I'm trying to find out if it is legal to record TV programs and/or movies. This is for personal use only. I have a DVD recorder and would like to put these programs on DVD. Thanks.

As far as I know, its okay to record things that are shown on television. Its when you download them from the internet is when you can get in trouble. My family has always recorded things on TV since I've been a kid, but things might have changed since then.

You want to record shows from regular TV? I don't think this would be illegal, I think your safe. Even if this was illegal, I highly doubt there would be any way for this process to be tracked...

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Originally Posted by alwayzfishin

I'm trying to find out if it is legal to record tv programs and/or movies. This is for personal use only. I have a DVD recorder and would like to put these programs on DVD. Thanks.

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With today's technology it is so easy to record TV programs. I just want to do the right thing and don't want to be breaking any copyright laws. Thanks for your help.

Unless you see a do not copy message before the program starts, don't worry about it. Now, if you start selling the copies there may be problems... You'll be fine.

It is good that you want to be so conscientious and law-abiding. I am assuming that you are from the United States. If so, then I think that you will find the information on the following sites to be helpful to you.

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Copyright Office - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes you may record for personal use TV shows. You can not use these for other "public" showings, and not sell them, or charge people to see them.

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Originally Posted by alwayzfishin

I'm trying to find out if it is legal to record tv programs and/or movies. This is for personal use only. I have a DVD recorder and would like to put these programs on DVD. Thanks.

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The Supereme Court held in the Betamax case (remember the Beta VCR format) that it is "fair use" of copyrighted material to record them from your TV for replay at a different time. (Don't even consider using a videocam in a movie theater!) You cannot publicly perform the recorded programs, however, which means that you cannot legally show them at any public venue, including your church, club meeting, or even your own home if the neighbors are present, whether for pay or for free. These are the same rules as for rented or purchased movies. In one famous case, a law enforcement officer showed rented movies in a prison. This was ruled a public performance.

Since it is only allowed that you record for your own use, it must be illegal to give away a collection to another person, or a hospital, or? Right?

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Originally Posted by rzipperman

Since it is only allowed that you record for your own use, it must be illegal to give away a collection to another person, or a hospital, or?? Right??

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No, it is not illegal to give these recordings away. It is illegal to sell them.

This post is over 2 years old, Zipper.

I'm trying to record a movie off my parents' Comcast digital cable with a 1997 Panasonic VCR (I'm a fan of 'retro' technology because I am poor, lol.) There must have been some ruling made that recording of digital cable movies doesn't constitute fair use, perhaps? Because the Panasonic is messing up the picture as I record it as if I were trying to copy a pre-recorded VHS tape. I also read on another forum about someone with a DVR being unable to record certain copy-protected shows.

So maybe the Betamax ruling only applies to over-the-air shows that come in on your TV antenna?

But, I've used Sony and Sharp VCRs to record many movies on analog and now 'digital transport' cable w/o hitting this problem; this is my first time using a Panasonic VCR, though.

Well, technically, you can't sell a copy or distribute multiple copies for free; but you can have *one* personal copy and *loan* it to friends one at a time, just like you can loan an LP record or a CD. If they then copy it, that is illegal.