Date:  Fri, 15 Dec 1995 11:11:54 EST

From:  Undetermined origin c/o LISTSERV maintainer

     <owner-LISTSERV[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>

Subject: Re: Unauth Index to "American Tongues" - Improvements Invited



I'm not a a lawyer: this is just what I've picked up over the years,

and you probably should consult an expert.



With that said: what is definitely legal is time-shifting. For example,

if you want to watch something being broadcast at 5:00, but you won't

get home until 6, it's perfectly legitimate to tape the program, watch

it later, and then erase the tape. And what is definitely not legal is

taping something off the television and charging people to see it: for

example, you can't record a current movie off HBO and charge your

neighbors $1 each to come see it in your living room. Clearly, that leaves

a lot of gray area, though the copyright owner might be able to argue

that, since students pay tuition for the right to attend class, using

something broadcast over the air for a later class is a violation.



And a practical note: even if it's legal to tape things off television,

people will sometimes buy tapes because the tape quality is higher that

way, or to avoid having to either watch or edit out commercials.



Vicki Rosenzweig

vr%acmcr.uucp[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]murphy.com | rosenzweig[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]acm.org

New York, NY