Rewinding to Betamax: The path to consumers’ “right to record”
24 01 2014In the spring of 1978, the program guide published by a Los Angeles public television station contained more than just schedules; it told viewers when they could watch its programs—and what they were allowed to do with those programs.Some programs, the guide showed, could be taped without restriction. For others, viewers could record as long as they followed certain restrictions, such as deleting the recording within seven days. Still other programs shouldn’t be recorded at all, since the copyright holders objected to such recording.
In all, out of the 107 television programs that would be broadcast on Channel 58 that season, 62 of them authorized some home taping. Only 21 of them—about 20 percent—allowed “unrestricted” home taping.
The content in this post was found at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/rewinding-to-betamax-the-path-to-consumers-right-to-record/ and was not authored by the moderators of freeforafee.com. Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post.
