"Apparently, I'm a Pirate" by Troy H. Cheek on Jan 14, 2008
This week's article is late because I've been devoted most of my spare time (actual and virtual) on a little project for my father, daddy, and man who raised me. That's all one guy, just so you know. I have to throw that in there because nowadays a kid might have half a dozen people filling those three roles.
Anyway, the elder Mister Cheek was concerned about a one time only special spectacular television event that he was afraid he was going to miss. This was the airing of Comanche Moon, the final volume of the Lonesome Dove series, over three nights this week. Due to pre-scheduled family obligations, recurring technical problems, and forecasted severe weather, he was pretty sure he was going to miss at least part of one of the nights. He asked me to record all three nights for him.
I am pretty sure that this miniseries will be aired again, perhaps on some other network, so this isn't his only chance to see it, but he honestly believes that, so we'll go with it.
I don't own a Video Cassette Recorder or VCR anymore, and all my old VHS tapes are gathering dust on the shelf (and biodegrading rapidly according to some, will still be there come next century according to others), but I do have a "digital VCR" or DVR or Digital Video Recorder. Actually, I have a TV decoder/capture card installed on my computer and a mostly-functional DVR program which can record from it. I have other software which allows me to convert this captured file into DVD format (they call it "DVD authoring") and a DVD burner which allows me to create DVDs that can be played on (almost) any standard DVD player. The older Cheeks finally have a DVD player after several subtle hints dropped around Christmas time a few years back.
So, the plan was to capture the shows, convert them to DVD format, burn them to blank DVDs, and give them to Dad as a late birthday present.
According to several people in the legal, entertainment, and computer industries, this series of actions is a violation of Federal copyright law and makes me a thief and a pirate. Yar!
For the remainder of this article, I am going to document all the crimes I committed while doing this favor for my father. I do not seriously expect to actually be charged with any of these crimes. However, I wholeheartedly believes that somewhere out there are legislators, business executives, and associations who would love to fine or jail me for every infraction listed below.
First of all, I'm capturing video and audio with a DVR. This DVR is not perfect, at least in the respect that what is recorded is not quite exactly pixel-for-pixel the same as the original source, but it's certainly better than a standard VHS VCR. Some would call this digitizing or ripping and would call the results a TV rip. This conversion creates a digital computer file which can be copied and/or distributed over and over pixel perfect without any further loss of quality. This is a necessary and essential first step of large-scale copyright infringement and is, in and of itself, proof of guilt of same. [1]
Secondly, the file is stored on a harddrive installed in a computer which is connected to the Internet. The computer has software that allows me to upload, download, and otherwise share files. Even in the face of a complete lack of any proof that I have ever distributed any of these files to any other single person via this Internet connection, this is sufficient proof of large-scale copyright infringement. [2]
Thirdly, my conversion software allows me to edit out commercials. By not viewing the commercials, my future purchasing decisions will not be influenced by them, disrupting the revenue streams of all the advertisers. By not paying Ford or Chevy for a new car that I was not spurred into buying, I have cost them the purchase price of a new Ford or Chevy, which is the same as stealing one off the lot. [3]
Fourthly, by capturing the show on my computer instead of watching it on TV, I have disrupted the normal viewing patterns and my viewership can not be tracked. Producers can't report my pair of eyeballs to their advertisers, meaning that they must ask lower prices for the advertising spots, again costing them money, which is again the same as stealing that money from them. Not as I'd be seeing the advertisements anyway, as mentioned above. [4]
Fifthly, by recording the signal with the intention of viewing it at some other time without the express written consent of the copyright owner, I am "time shifting" which is a violation of copyright. [5]
Sixthly, by copying the signal into another media format with the intention of viewing it on some other device, I am "space shifting" which is another violation of copyright. [6]
Seventhly, by creating these edited movies and not submitting them to any type of ratings organization to determine their suitability for a given audience of a given age or making any attempt to keep them from being viewed by children, I am guilty of child endangerment, contributing to the delinquency or corruption of a minor, and failure to abide by the rules of several professional organizations (if I had been members of any of those organizations). This is in spite of the fact that the original source movies had been aired on network television. [7]
Eighthly, even assuming I had a legal right to the movie in question, copying it to a single DVD for my own personal use simply means that it is a single act of copyright infringement. [8]
Ninthly, giving a copy of a freely available over-the-air broadcast of a movie to someone other than the one who recorded it is an act of copyright infringement, so giving that DVD to my father is another crime. [9]
Tenthly, my father might well view the DVD in the company of other family members or even (shudder!) friends and neighbors, qualifying it as a public performance for which we do not have permission from the copyright holder. [10]
Eleventhly, the miniseries will probably be available for purchase on DVD in a few months. Because my father has the DVDs I made him, he probably won't purchase the commercially available ones, which will mean a lost sale, which is the same as stealing the box set from the local video store. Keep in mind that even if we have not committed any other crime in obtaining the miniseries, the fact that an equivalent product was available for free cost someone a sale, which is the same as stealing. [11]
Twelvethly, my recording of the final episode was interupted by audible and visible weather alerts inserted by the local TV station which drowned out dialog and blocked subtitles, respectively. Luckily, my father didn't mind. If he had minded, I might have attempted to locate someone who had captured it from an airing on a different television station and get a copy from them, which would have been a whole other round of copyright violations. [12]
Thirteenthly, my father is getting old. He will someday depart this vale of tears and move on to a better place. When he does, he will have no further use for my homemade DVDs or any purchased DVDs or CDs or other entertainment media. He might even decide to get rid of them sooner than that. He'll have to incinerate them. Giving them away, selling them, passing them on to his children, or even leaving them in the trash where someone might find them is a copyright violation if he doesn't first get permission from the copyright holder. After all, if he leaves me his DVD collection, then I don't have to buy those DVDs for myself, which results in a lost sale, which is the same as shoplifting the DVD. [13]
Fourteenthly, in spite of all expectations, the miniseries may never be re-aired or released to home video, meaning that my father will never get the chance to view it again. Since he doesn't have the permission of the copyright holder, any means he uses to obtain a copy for his own personal viewing pleasure is illegal. [14]
Fifteenthly, I might decide to make and keep a backup copy, just in case Dad steps on a DVD or lets a grandkid play with it. Without the permission of the copyright holder, this backup is illegal. [15]
Sixteenthly, in order to make certain software work smoothly, or at all, I had to use several hacks to get around copy protection features. The TV capture software was actually intended for a different TV capture card from the same maker, but I'm only authorized to use the software that comes with it. Newer versions unfortunately don't recognize the card version properly and won't install. A registry tweak convinced other software that it was running on the expected version of Windows and not exit with an error message. Finally, an altered "hosts" file prevents one piece of software from phoning home and incorrectly determining that my copy is not licensed. All this software was legally purchased, by the way, but altered illegally so I can get some actual use out of them. [16]
Yes, I do admit that I stretched a little with some of these. Some legal challenges I mention have already been struck down and others have yet to be officially made. I applied claims from other media to the DVD format. Still, I doubt you can poke any serious holes in the spirit of the claims.
Footnotes: (and I swore I'd never do these)
[1] - RIAA's claim during several filesharing cases where little more could be proven than a CD was ripped to the harddrive, not that any sharing actually took place.
[2] - RIAA's claim during several filesharing cases where little more could be proven than files were "made available" for distribution, not that any distribution actually took place.
[3] - Claim of TV networks during the time of the original VCRs, repeated when DVRs became available. These devices would kill television.
[4] - Claim of TV networks, ditto.
[5] - Claim of TV networks, ditto.
[6] - Claim of RIAA, MPAA, and TV networks. If you want the product in a different media format, you are expected to buy it again. Also, listening to music on CD will kill radio, watching movies at home will kill movie theaters, watching DVD sets instead of first-run series will kill TV, etc.
[7] - MPAA claim that home movies must be rated to be "distributed" even to other family members, a process that takes months and costs $5,000.
[8] - RIAA claim during filesharing case. Although the RIAA has not chosen to prosecute a case of someone ripping legally-purchased CDs to fill their iPods, they reserve the right to do so.
[9] - Claim by MPAA and TV networks that taping of over-the-air broadcasts is for personal use only. Technically, even telling someone else what you heard or saw broadcast is illegal.
[10] - MPAA claim that even a small family gathering counts as a public performance of copyrighted material, also some professional sports.
[11] - Microsoft claim that the availability of Linux and other free OS products steals sales of Windows and that Windows should be bundled with every computer even if the user has no intention of using it.
[12] - Claim by RIAA, MPAA, and various ISPs that all filesharing is illegal, even if it is a product that you already own or is available freely.
[13] - Claim by RIAA that sales or gifts of used CDs costs sales and that any change in ownership must be approved by copyright holder and a fee collected, plus attempts to create legislation requiring registration, licensing, and a waiting period for used CD sales.
[14] - Claim by RIAA, MPAA, and TV networks that copyrighted works can not be distributed, even if the copyright owener has no intentions of making them available for sale. Claim by Business Software Alliance that abandoned or discontinued software may not be legally purchased or obtained from other sources, even if essential to enterprise integrity.
[15] - Claim by RIAA and MPAA that replacements for lost or damaged media are readily available at reasonable prices at local stores.
[16] - Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 'Nuff said.
