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Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years old?

Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years old?


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Luna Tick

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You would think that really old TV shows (40 years or more) would have expired copyrights, but that's often not the case. Do you believe it's wrong to download such shows from unauthorized sources such as torrents?

Just to be clear, the question is about shows 40 years old or more which do not have expired copyrights.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Who cares if it's immoral? It's illegal. Quit trying to justify stealing **** and buy the DVD.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Who cares if it's immoral? It's illegal. Quit trying to justify stealing **** and buy the DVD.

Are you aware of the difference between a question and a statement? I asked a question and gave 4 possible options. Now vote or quit complaining.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

None of the options reflect my exact opinion---it is illegal, but the laws may have exceeded the scope of the Constitutional authority to create them. They should be shortened significantly and then become part of the public domain........

Article I, section 8

"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Who cares if it's immoral? It's illegal. Quit trying to justify stealing **** and buy the DVD.

How is it stealing if it was never stolen? I could record TV shows with a VCR and give them to my friends and they would not be stolen. I mean I agree with the argument that illegal torrenting or copying are morally wrong but I wouldn't consider it stealing. Perhaps distributing content without proper licenses and fees but to me its not stealing as the giver from which you are receiving it is a willing participant in the exchange.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

None of the options reflect my exact opinion---it is illegal, but the laws may have exceeded the scope of the Constitutional authority to create them. They should be shortened significantly and then become part of the public domain........

Article I, section 8

"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."

You've hit right at what I'm wondering about. Copyrights don't last forever, nor should they. They expire at some point. The plays of George Bernard Shaw, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the plays and poems of William Shakespeare all have expired copyrights. That fact does not hurt any of these men financially.

What I'm wondering with my question is if perhaps 40 years is about the right cutoff point for TV shows. Is there anyone who worked on Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best or some show from that era who would be hurt financially if those copyrights were expired? It seems like the purpose of copyright is to allow the creator of a work to reap rewards from it.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

I'm normally right on board with you, buuuut...

I tried to watch Game of Thrones and this is what happened - The Oatmeal

...which describes my own experience with uncanny spookiness.

Heh, that is me as well. Add to the mix that I am always stationed overseas, where things like Hulu aren’t authorized and even if they were the internet speed would make it impractical for streaming. I don’t deal with DVDs anymore. For one, Amazon often won’t mail DVDs to where I am. And you can’t find legal copies locally. Go to Cambodia and try to find a legal version of ANY DVD. You won’t succeed.

And on top of that is the whole Region specific DVD issue which is a pain for me since I bounce around from continent to continent. I stick solely with digital media when it comes to my TV shows and movies. When there is something I want to watch I ALWAYS go to itunes first to see if I can purchase it. Even if it is expensive I will pay for it.

But if there is not a way for me to download it and pay for it, then I will download it and not pay for it. I refuse to not watch a show just because the producers refuse to allow me to purchase it the correct way.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

You've hit right at what I'm wondering about. Copyrights don't last forever, nor should they. They expire at some point. The plays of George Bernard Shaw, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the plays and poems of William Shakespeare all have expired copyrights. That fact does not hurt any of these men financially.

What I'm wondering with my question is if perhaps 40 years is about the right cutoff point for TV shows. Is there anyone who worked on Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best or some show from that era who would be hurt financially if those copyrights were expired? It seems like the purpose of copyright is to allow the creator of a work to reap rewards from it.

Are you able to verbalize what right you think you have to the creative work of others if they haven't chosen to allow that right to you? Perhaps just because you want it and that is all the ethics you need?
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Are you able to verbalize what right you think you have to the creative work of others if they haven't chosen to allow that right to you? Perhaps just because you want it and that is all the ethics you need?

I'm asking when copyrights should expire. When do you think they should? Or do you think they should never expire? Do you think the works of Edgar Allan Poe should still be copyrighted even though he's been dead since 1849?
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Who cares if it's immoral? It's illegal. Quit trying to justify stealing **** and buy the DVD.

Pretty uncomfortable with piracy, but there do some to be cases where it is fair. Like if a product was never licensed for sale overseas, or if the terms of service are uniquely abusive, or if the product is not readily accessible.
 
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Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Heh, that is me as well. Add to the mix that I am always stationed overseas, where things like Hulu aren’t authorized and even if they were the internet speed would make it impractical for streaming. I don’t deal with DVDs anymore. For one, Amazon often won’t mail DVDs to where I am. And you can’t find legal copies locally. Go to Cambodia and try to find a legal version of ANY DVD. You won’t succeed.

And on top of that is the whole Region specific DVD issue which is a pain for me since I bounce around from continent to continent. I stick solely with digital media when it comes to my TV shows and movies. When there is something I want to watch I ALWAYS go to itunes first to see if I can purchase it. Even if it is expensive I will pay for it.

But if there is not a way for me to download it and pay for it, then I will download it and not pay for it. I refuse to not watch a show just because the producers refuse to allow me to purchase it the correct way.

A vpn will deal with the overseas problem, though as far as download speeds go you're on your own.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Copying content in whatever fashion and giving that to someone else is not stealing.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Heh, that is me as well. Add to the mix that I am always stationed overseas, where things like Hulu aren’t authorized and even if they were the internet speed would make it impractical for streaming. I don’t deal with DVDs anymore. For one, Amazon often won’t mail DVDs to where I am. And you can’t find legal copies locally. Go to Cambodia and try to find a legal version of ANY DVD. You won’t succeed.

And on top of that is the whole Region specific DVD issue which is a pain for me since I bounce around from continent to continent. I stick solely with digital media when it comes to my TV shows and movies. When there is something I want to watch I ALWAYS go to itunes first to see if I can purchase it. Even if it is expensive I will pay for it.

But if there is not a way for me to download it and pay for it, then I will download it and not pay for it. I refuse to not watch a show just because the producers refuse to allow me to purchase it the correct way.

Region specific isn't the issue that it once was now that we have computers. For example if you had to buy a DVD from Europe (which uses PAL) and went to play it on an NTSC DVD player (US, Canada, Japan, and I think Mexico), it wouldn't play. However, you could still play it on a laptop computer and run an HDMI cable to your TV and it should work.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

A vpn will deal with the overseas problem, though as far as download speeds go you're on your own.

True and I often use a VPN for accessing media blocked in my assigned country. The problem is the streaming speed on sites like Hulu that don't allow you to buffer more than a couple minutes of the show.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

I'm asking when copyrights should expire. When do you think they should? Or do you think they should never expire? Do you think the works of Edgar Allan Poe should still be copyrighted even though he's been dead since 1849?

Why should the patent property right ever expire?

Here is why it is important, we now live in a world where low information voters have been convinced that they have a right to the personal property of others simply because they want that property and the government convinces them that the property was originally stolen from them anyway.

Taking away personal property rights leads to the government achieving it's goal of taking away not only personal property rights, but also real property rights (Land). The goal of liberal governments is, when you die, to take away your ability to will your estate to your children. The government wants your entire estate, both real (Land) and personal property (Money and possessions), to go to the government for redistribution to others. You and your descendents would lose everything. Those others, the recipients of what you have worked for, would be the Liberal designated favorites such as new immigrants and other low information Liberal voters, who's votes would be purchased with your family's money.

The result would be that, no matter how hard you worked, you would never acquire anything of lasting value for your children or descendents. When you died, the Liberals would steal everything you had and give it away to Liberal voters. Don't let that Liberal camel get it's head in the tent.

You are thinking: I just wanted to record a damn CD!

Here is why property rights are now immediately important. In the Nineties, Jessie Jackson wanted the government to take all of the pensions of white people and put them in a big pot for redistribution to blacks. Jackson stated that whites owed that money to blacks. More recently, Obama's academic/economic advisors have been urging Obama to steal all present 401k and pension plans and pay America's debts and redistribute that money to the low information voters. That is why property rights are an immediate issue.

Always respect the property rights or others. The Obama government will steal yours also.
 
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Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Copying content in whatever fashion and giving that to someone else is not stealing.

Not true. If I were to, say, copy the Mona Lisa, the resulting work would be different on pretty much every level: done in a different time, by different hands, different pigments, different materials, brushwork doesn't have the same finesse, etc. Digital technology changes that. A digital copy of a file is literally no different in quality than the original, so copying it doesn't result in a unique and different work, but the same exact work.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Not true. If I were to, say, copy the Mona Lisa, the resulting work would be different on pretty much every level: done in a different time, by different hands, different pigments, different materials, brushwork doesn't have the same finesse, etc. Digital technology changes that. A digital copy of a file is literally no different in quality than the original, so copying it doesn't result in a unique and different work, but the same exact work.

Copying something no matter the success of the copy is not stealing.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

True and I often use a VPN for accessing media blocked in my assigned country. The problem is the streaming speed on sites like Hulu that don't allow you to buffer more than a couple minutes of the show.

Wasn't that the unintended result of government action on Hulu a while back?
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol


Stealing is stealing regardless of who you're stealing from, but if you're priority is making sure the money goes to the artist, then Liam is certainly on the mark. Increased popularity will fill the concert seats more, and that's where they'll really make their money.

As an artist myself, however, I am represented by an agent who has been instrumental in building some of my popularity and connecting me to a good number of clients. I have resented attempts by people to crassly work around my relationship with my agent, as if my agent were a parasite instead of a legitimate business partner. Obviously it's not always like that since there are tons of stories of record companies and artists loathing each other. My only point is that that sort of relationship shouldn't be assumed.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Copying something no matter the success of the copy is not stealing.

That doesn't address anything I said.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

That doesn't address anything I said.

Yes, it does. Even if the copy made is exactly the same as the original the fact still remains it's a copy and therefore not stealing.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Stealing is stealing regardless of who you're stealing from, but if you're priority is making sure the money goes to the artist, then Liam is certainly on the mark. Increased popularity will fill the concert seats more, and that's where they'll really make their money.

As an artist myself, however, I am represented by an agent who has been instrumental in building some of my popularity and connecting me to a good number of clients. I have resented attempts by people to crassly work around my relationship with my agent, as if my agent were a parasite instead of a legitimate business partner. Obviously it's not always like that since there are tons of stories of record companies and artists loathing each other. My only point is that that sort of relationship shouldn't be assumed.
I think they're going about it all wrong. They shouldn't be trying to sell their music, they should use their music like a TV show, where's it what attracts the audience who the artist then enforces products to.

I don't have a passionate position on this topic one way or other.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Wasn't that the unintended result of government action on Hulu a while back?

Btw, the old Hulu was so much better than what the gov caused in their wake. :(
 
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Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

I think they're going about it all wrong. They shouldn't be trying to sell their music, they should use their music like a TV show, where's it what attracts the audience who the artist then enforces products to.

I don't have a passionate position on this topic one way or other.

The CD sales are more for the record company than the artist. ;)
 
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