Hey guys,

This might be a dumb question but I was wondering if there is a way in which I can transfer my HD Recordings (HD Movies, Sporting events etc) to my computer and burn them or buy a burner and burn them that way??

I constantly run out of room on my PVR and end up deleting recordings that I would like to keep.

Thansk

There are ways of transferring via firewire but that might be illegal and you won't get an answer here. You'd have to split all the HD files up so that they would fit onto DVD's if you wanted to preserve. But you wouldn't be able to watch them like that.

is there a method that I could use so that I could watch them as well, or is that illegal too?

You can't watch HD on your dvd player because it only outputs 480p.

ya that makes sense, dumb question, i guess i was hoping to find some way lol

You could watch them from your HD on your PC. That's it.

What DVR? If it is the HDTivo, you can easily upgrade its storage space.

I have a Canadian PVR from the local cable company, Shaw

Check, because my cable box will accept an external SATA hard drive to expand the storage space

how do i find out if my pvr will accept a SATA hard drive? and where can i purchase one?
Thanks

You're better off asking these types of questions here:

www.digitalhomecanada.com

I haven't gotten a shaw HD box yet, as I was waiting for one to go on sale, but no luck so far...

Definately check into the SATA drives. My local cable company has the feature turned off so I can't hook one up. The way they work from what I have read is that they extend the drive. You cannot choose where your recordings go so you wouldn't be able to save content and then take the drive to your pc and copy it to another drive. Not sure if that is drvie specific or not but the one I found for the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD that is how it works.

Is there a way to check whether it's turned on or available on my machine? I have the SA 8300HD and would like to add 250-500GB to the storage.

Would it really be illegal though? i just got an SA HD with PVR 8300 and saved some recordings. I've been having a bitch of a time getting them recorded to my PC. Is it illegal to just save recordings like that?

I'm wondering the same thing since I just got this box yesterday.

This is a very interesting and very complicated area of law. The short answer is: there is no clear answer yet.

The Supreme Court case that cleared the way for the VCR and DVD recorders is Sony v. Universal (involving the failed betamax machine no less). In Sony, the court held that a manufacturer could not be held liable if its product had a "substantial non-infringing use." Although Grokster has arguably limited Sony significantly, Sony's discussion of fair use is helpful in answering this question. The court identified several uses for the betamax's recording function . Among those users were: 1) time-shifting (recording a program today to watch tomorrow); and 2) librarying (recording programs to create a collection or archive). The court found that time-shifting was a fair use under the copyright act. Sony makes it fairly clear that librarying is not fair use. However, there has not been a case that specifically addressed this issue so there is really no clear answer now. This is due, I suspect, to the fact that all recorders are capable of time-shifting and are therefore permissible under Sony.

Recording a copyrighted program and storing it for librarying purposes, whether on a DVD or on an HD, is a clear violation of the copyright laws. Most IP lawyers would agree on this I suspect.

So it's ok on VHS but not higher quality formats?? Or is it just not ok on ANYTHING?

Librarying is not fair use on any format. Recording a program for later viewing (time shifting) is fine. Recording a program to put on your shelf as part of your collection is not.

As I said in my previous post, this is not black letter law - there is some debate. The position I have taken is generally accepted, but the issue isn't settled yet.

With the 8300 I think I pretty much gave up on trying to get them to my PC.

The DMCA made circumventing copy protection illegal. Since VHS is more often NOT protected, your statement is partly correct. But still subject to other copyright laws, as Bob has discussed.