since they are shown free, is it illegal to download full tv episodes from the net ?

Now, I'm no lawyer (new acronyom NINL), but you can record television but you cannot publically re-broadcast it. So if you tape the epsiodes off televison, its cool. If you buy them off ebay, its not cool b/c the network does not get paid. I believe its illegal to d/l them b/c someone is redistributing them. I may be way off [/i]base[/i]

BothanSpy

Yes, I think rebroadcasting or redistributing them is illegal.

that being said, where can I download south park episodes?

I have been downloading cartoons like the Simpsons, Avengers, and X-men off of Usenet and I fell no guilt about it. I don't see how having a rather low quality version of a TV show is hurting anyone. In the case of the Simpson I will rebuy them on DVD anyway, so Fox isn't losing any money on me.

I've been downloading a few episodes of Buffy, but a 500 MB file is a bit of a long download with a 56kbs modem.

Darren Garrison

Where do you get Buffy episodes?

The Usenet newsgroup alt.binaries.multimedia.buffy-v-slayer

I watched an episode of 20/20 about buying and selling bootleg movies. If I remember correctly there is a loop-hole in the law. It's illegel to distribute copyrighted movies but it'd not illegal to buy them. So I'd say it's illegal to put tv shows on the usenet but not illegal to download them. And no I'm not a law-talking-guy.

I think Comedy Central and the creators are well aware of SP being all over the internet .. and they seem to tolerate it (as long no one makes money with it) ..

now i see more and more shows popping up .. but i have not downloaded anything in a long time

As to the legal question: isn't it downloading what my TiVo does ? writing it on a HD :) ok .. well ..

anyways .. does anyone know where I could get some of the recent Friends episodes ? i missed some

I don't see why it would be illegal to put them on the internet. It's legal to capture/record them. As far as I know, there is no law regarding where you store your recorded shows. Just because you store them in a publicly accessible place I don't think that should count as distribution.

7

This damn Bearshare gives me search results from hell. I tried Ed, and I got 9 million friggin results. Most of them were so off the mark and didn't have ED in the title anywhere ? Try doing a search for E.R. Bah!

Morpheus (www.musiccity.com) has a lot of TV episodes easy to download and full movies :)

Sure, I can store my time-shifted VHS tapes of TV shows on a table on a public street corner. I just can't sell or give them away to anyone. Or otherwise distribute or re-broadcast them without permission. That would violate the copyright holder's rights.

No, I don't think it's illegal, 'cuz
a) I've already seen it on TV
b) it's pretty crappy quality
c) if possible, I buy the DVD of it when it comes out.

I think it is illegal for all those europeans and others who don't like in north america to download TV shows like friends, etc. They are still showing only the 6th season there, but those europeans are downloading the 7th season right now. That is probably illegal.

What program do you use for downloading and reassembling the binaries?

For downloading I use one called Agent. Episodes run around 450 MB to 600 MB depending on what version you get. Usually posted in 15 MB or so chunks. I recombine the chunks with Winrar.

[Edited by Darren Garrison on 05-20-01 at 08:12 PM]

Xnews is the best newsgroup program for downloading binaries. BTW i don't see why it would be illegal to download tv shows because well instead of me taping the eps i'm just downloading them. But I can see the point that the commercials are not included, however newer vcrs have features that lets you skip commercials when recording soooooo if that is not illegal i don't see how downloading is. As long as you're selling them.

The difference is that the networks pay the producers for the rights to broadcast (i.e. distribute) these shows to the public. Internet sites have no such rights, as they haven't paid the producers. And I don't know about the US but the UK has laws allowing you to record broadcast shows on your VCR, but 'technically' you're only allowed to keep them for a limited time.... legally. Though I've never heard of a prosecution for this. Otherwise, I'd be seriously screwed.

The VCR analogy is a bad one, IMO. The analogy should be with B&M or other retailers, who have to pay the shows' producers for the product they sell. The internet sites have neither the permission, nor do they pay the producers a fee. That's the root of the problem.

Thanks for the software tips. In the meantime I discovered it's much easier to get the episodes I want off the IRC. It's a more proactive approach than waiting for someone to repost the missing parts to the newsgroups.

As for the legality of it I think the analogy with VCR is very relevant. The original question I think was not really about whether it is legal to "download" them but more if it is legal to own them. If it's legal that I make a copy of a recorded tv show for a friend so he'll have the tape as well, than this is just as legal. The sites you get the files from are not distributing it for profit or re-broadcasting the movie.

AFAIK you cannot legally make a copy of a recorded TV show and give it to a friend. That's called bootlegging. Obviously, it's unlikely you'd get prosecuted. It's too small scale to matter. But internet sites are a visible and active offender in this issue, and will probably incur the wrath of the Producers some time soon, I suspect.

Also, in the UK, the Police now have the right to monitor our surfing. So the Big Brother state isn't as far off as we'd hoped.

FWIW I don't think it's unethical to dowload your favourite TV shows. I just accept that it's illegal and refrain from doing it myself.

Anyone know if its really illegal to tape shows in US? I'd love to see it in writing somewhere. Even if it is, I agree no one is going to jail over it, prob. even the judge records his favorite shows heh.

If I remember correctly, there was a lawsuit by cable companies over the taping of movies off of premium cable. I believe that the ruling was that people are allowed to record movies off of any channels they receive for their own personal, private use. This would prohibit distribution, making a copy of a copy, and charging people money to come over and watch a movie. (Feel free to correct me.)

Agreed, if you tape something off of TV and lend the tape to a friend, or give your friend your only copy, then no one is going to chase you down and arrest you. It's too small scale and it is still a bit fuzzy under the law. However, if you tried to mass-distribute a tape, you'd gain the attention of the authorities.

That's where the Internet gets into trouble. By placing TV shows in a public place, you are (a) mass-distributing copies of that show and (b) allowing people to download a copy of the original, not giving them the original itself.

I agree, it is not necessarily unethical to download TV shows, since it is usually for the purpose of enjoying that show because you enjoy it and there are no other avenues of obtaining it. But you should consider it illegal to obtain copies of a program; that is cheating the creators out of money.

Try responding to an older thread.