Copying VHS to DVD
- January 27, 2005 @ 11:03amRitaPhelps says:I recently was asked by one of our school librarians if it was legal to copy all her old VHS tapes to DVD format, to save space. I felt that she was walking into murky copyright water, and told her that I personally wouldn't do it. Is it legal to copy VHS tapes to DVD if they are no longer available (out of print)? I would assume that VHS tapes that are now also availble on DVD must be purchased from the company, that it would be illegal to copy the old one for for the library rather than purchase new. Any help you can give me on this topic will be greatly appreciated.
- January 28, 2005 @ 3:18pmCOvalle says:Currently there isn't a lot of distinction between in-print and out-of-print copies except in determining how the copying might affect the market of the work (one of the fair use factors) .
There is no library exemption for libraries to save space. Right now libraries can only make copies if the original format is obsolete, or the copy is damaged, deteriating or lost, and no replacement copy is available in the market. They need to check for a fairly priced on the market replacement copy first, though.
Complete Copyright Chapter 2 discusses this in more depth. - February 24, 2006 @ 3:49pmHapkidoDragon says:Does this apply to personal VHS copies as well? I have nearly 500 VHS movies I bought from Blockbuster, Hollywood video, etc.
I would like to transfer them to DVD since watching them over the years has begun to degrade some of them.
Cost of 500 VHS tapes transfered to a DVD about $160.
Cost of buying all those DVD's new again on DVD between $2500-$7500.
Does this mean that legally even though I paid top dollar when VHS was the medium I have to shell out more money to have copies of movies I legally purchased before? - February 27, 2006 @ 8:10amCOvalle says:The library and archives rules only applies to libraries and archives.
Personal copying is another matter altogether. Generally, "space shifting" for personal use is considered legal, although recently some industry representatives are alleging that this is because they have allowed such use.
[quote]Does this apply to personal VHS copies as well? I have nearly 500 VHS movies I bought from Blockbuster, Hollywood video, etc.
I would like to transfer them to DVD since watching them over the years has begun to degrade some of them.
Cost of 500 VHS tapes transfered to a DVD about $160.
Cost of buying all those DVD's new again on DVD between $2500-$7500.
Does this mean that legally even though I paid top dollar when VHS was the medium I have to shell out more money to have copies of movies I legally purchased before?[/quote]
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