VCR recordings for personal use

lucernarian

Hi there,

A friend of mine recently brought to my attention that VCR recordings of programmes broadcast by TV channels are illegal full-stop. I was under the impression that these recordings are completely legal once they are entirely for personal use and leisure, in Ireland much like it is the case in the US.

Can any of the learned members clear the air around this for me?

seamus

Correct. They are perfectly legal provided that they are only used by you, for viewing the content privately and that the recordings are wiped/deleted when you are finished.

Making a recording of something and holding onto it is not technically legal and giving it out to other people or using it in a non-private context (e.g. displaying it in a classroom) is not legal.

lucernarian

seamus wrote: »

Correct. They are perfectly legal provided that they are only used by you, for viewing the content privately and that the recordings are wiped/deleted when you are finished.

Making a recording of something and holding onto it is not technically legal and giving it out to other people or using it in a non-private context (e.g. displaying it in a classroom) is not legal.

Thank you for the knowledgeable answer. Is there a particular section of copyright law which I can refer to in regards to video recordings of TV broadcasts for personal use?

seamus

Unlike UK law, Irish law is rarely specific and so there's no specific mention of TV broadcasts or video recordings.

It's a more general law and has actually changed slightly from what I said above, to match the EU's requirements on copyright. It also uses some of the most painful wording you'll ever see.

It's in the Copyright and Related Rights Act, Section 87.

Temporary acts of reproduction


(1) It is not an infringement of the rights conferred by this Part to undertake or conduct temporary acts of reproduction which acts are transient or incidental and which are an integral and essential part of a technological process and whose sole purpose is to enable—


(a) a transmission in a network between third parties by an intermediary, or


(b) a lawful use,


of a work or other subject-matter to be made, and which acts have no independent economic significance.

Just to break it down a little bit:
"transient" means temporary

"incidental" basically means "irregular" - i.e. not produced on a production line

"which are an integral and essential part of a technological process" means that the reproduction must be technically required in order to view the work - in the context of a VCR recording, creating the copy must be an essential part of the re-watching process, which it is.

Obviously the "economic significance" bit is important too. The copy must not result in either specific losses for the copyright holder, or a specific financial gain for the person making the copy.

I was actually wrong above - you do not have to destroy a recording after watching it. It is perfectly legal to record something from the TV and keep it, provided that you don't do anything else with it. Though the very name of the section incorporates the word "temporary" which carries its own implications I guess.

Delancey

So if a teacher records a history programme to show to a school class that is actually illegal ?

Jev/N

delancey42 wrote: »

So if a teacher records a history programme to show to a school class that is actually illegal ?

It would, I think, but then it might be subject to fair use exemptions under the head of education.

Jev/N

Calliope Square Post wrote: »

So are the sky/ntl plus boxes illegal. Seeing as you can set them up to record a whole series etc?

The boxes aren't illegal, just certain specific uses of them

FreudianSlippers

Calliope Square Post wrote: »

So are the sky/ntl plus boxes illegal. Seeing as you can set them up to record a whole series etc?

I believe that's not considered "recording" but instead it is considered "time-shifting" (I believe that's the term used)