VCRs - interesting (maybe) info

Tweet

Did you know that when the first vcrs were introduced to the public there was a lawsuit between Sony and Universal Studios that went to the supreme court in 1983/1984? Apparently Universal didn't like the idea that Sony had created a way for people to copy what they were watching on television and felt that these people were practically stealing from them. The people who were fighting against Sony thought that if they HAD to offer VCRs that they should be taxed or regulated in some way to benefit them. It was ruled by the courts that individuals making copies of entire television programs for purpose of "time-shifting" (basically means recording something to watch at a later time because the time that it was on wasn't available to the viewer) did not constitute copyright infringement. This ended up working to benefit movie and television makers because they could produce pre-recorded movies to sell to the public.