Watching Recorded Television

[Atreyu]

When I came back home to the Catholic Church about two years ago, I had a lot of residual habitual sin that I had to get rid of. I was happy that I worked this out gradually, as I slowly grew in the faith. But I came to understand that for most things, if I did not need to know the reason as to why it was a sin, I definitely needed to know that it was a sin. In other words, there have been a few things that I have thought may be sinful, but I only stopped them after deciding that they were in fact sinful.

Now one of the habitual sins that I may or may not have given up were watching pirated videos. If I had previously watched pirated videos, I only gave up watching them after realising that it was in fact, stealing. This would have been more of a problem if my brother (for example) had have downloaded off the internet heaps of movies to watch, as I would have had to stand up to him and actually say “well, I can’t watch this because I believe it’s stealing”.

But what about recording television shows? I really don’t see any problem in recording something (Australia Idol for example) when I can’t watch it, so that I can watch it later. Even if I record it and then watch it 20 minutes after it starts so that I can skip the ads, I don’t think that’s a problem. But what about if I could download the particular episode off the internet. Would that then be a sin to watch it? If not, then it follows that I could download any tv show (which my brother may or may not do) and watch that, does it not? So is this a sin? Does this constitute stealing?

Cheers for any comments, and sorry for any obliqueness.

 

[LRThunder]

I don’t think recording a show for your own use is a sin or a violation of the law. As long as you don’t intend to use it in public, then you should be fine.

As for downloading, I think it depends. I’m not sure, but I think some official show websites might allow for downloading of some episodes. As I said, I’m not sure, so don’t quote me on it. In any case, if there’s any doubt, probably it would be best not to download.

 

[psteichen]

Atreyu: First of all, where did you get your nickname? The Never Ending Story movie? I loved that movie as a kid!

As to copying movies: Don’t worry about it. I don’t believe it is wrong or stealing at all. As long as you don’t sell them! If you make a copy of a movie you bought and give it to your brother, no big deal. If you copy one and sell it on eBay, that’s stealing. Same thing with TV shows. If you record your favorite episodes of “The Price is Right” and then send them to your grandmother in the hospital, that is not a problem. If you record them and then offer them up for public viewing on your blog site, that’s against the law. Or how about if you went to the library and borrowed a copy of Hamlet. Would it be wrong to copy it into a notebook before returning it so that you can read it again later? Might cause sore fingers, but otherwise I don’t think it would be wrong. The only people ever prosecuted for copyright infringement have been those that sell the copies, or broadcast them publicly without permission.

Similarly with patents: If you are skilled enough to make an exact copy of a PS2 game console, good for you. You are allowed to do so as long as you don’t sell it. Once you start selling them, now you’ve infringed on someones patent.

I am not a lawyer in any country or jurisdiction however, so consider it my opinion. Also, best keep your activities low key lest some overzealous copyright attorney decide to target you for harassment.

 

[1ke]

Recording a show to watch it later is not stealing. That is a limited use that is acknowledged and accepted by the TV industry. The shows are free and public, and you are not selling them. The show has made its money from the advertisers and is not expecting any money from you.

Now, if you were to get pirated copies of the DVDs – say entire seasons that are for sale in stores-- that is stealing. These are items for sale, and to pirate copies or download from websites who have done so is illegal and immoral.

 

[apricot_yogurt]

I think there would be a disclaimer before each tv show.
I have thought about this, especially as we live in the UK, where we have a tv license, which you need to have if you have a tv signal in your home. We have a tv for only watching dvds/videos, and no arial-so we don’t have a license. We occasionaly watch recorded programmes off the tv from my moms house, so I do wonder about this.

 

[Steven_Merten]

Hello Atreyu,

Are you getting at the I-pod delema? Now one can, and most I-pod owners do, down load thousands of songs off the internet and onto their I-pod for free. There are places that one can pay a lot of money to down load songs while paying a royalty to the artists but most of the hundreds of millions of people with I-pods use the free internet route. As I understand it movies are headed for the same senario. I believe this is stealling.

 

[wcknight]

IF you have a legitimate right to view the show it is okay (ie recorded from regular tv for later viewing, free downloads, publiclly available etc). IF it is pirated, illegally downloaded, then it is morally wrong. This applies to software, movies, music etc.

There are a few gray areas, for example. If you buy a legal copy of a DVD could you morally lend this to a friend for viewing. People lend books to other folks all the time, and this is considered fine. Obviously making a copy and distributing a copy would be wrong, but lending out the original may be okay.

 

[Atreyu]

IF you have a legitimate right to view the show it is okay (ie recorded from regular tv for later viewing, free downloads, publiclly available etc). IF it is pirated, illegally downloaded, then it is morally wrong. This applies to software, movies, music etc.

There are a few gray areas, for example. If you buy a legal copy of a DVD could you morally lend this to a friend for viewing. People lend books to other folks all the time, and this is considered fine. Obviously making a copy and distributing a copy would be wrong, but lending out the original may be okay.

I think I agree with you. I suppose that means I need to do more to find out if these things have been illegally downloaded or not! Thanks for your comments, and thank you everyone else.

 

[tvdxer]

IF you have a legitimate right to view the show it is okay (ie recorded from regular tv for later viewing, free downloads, publiclly available etc). IF it is pirated, illegally downloaded, then it is morally wrong. This applies to software, movies, music etc.

There are a few gray areas, for example. If you buy a legal copy of a DVD could you morally lend this to a friend for viewing. People lend books to other folks all the time, and this is considered fine. Obviously making a copy and distributing a copy would be wrong, but lending out the original may be okay.

MAY be OK?

I think it’s obvious that that’s perfectly fine. What kind of fascist-media world would be living in were it not?