"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
news1FSb.147353$sv6.821100@attbi_s52...
Are you claiming, then, that it is legal to record what's on the radio or
TV, but it is a crime to fail to erase the recording sometime later?

That's my understanding of the situation, yes. I'm only aware of a specific
allowance for the purpose of watching or listening to something at a time
other than when it was broadcast. I'm not aware of any specific allowance
for the purpose of owning a copy of copyrighted material long term.

It should not be all that surprising to anyone that the mass media companies
have set up copyright law this way (and make no mistake, it's the mass media
companies who have control over copyright law in this country). After all,
if you're allowed to tape Terminator when it's shown on the ABC Sunday Night
Movie and keep the copy indefinitely for repeated viewings, that would cut
into the retail market of the same movie. (Or, at least, that's how the
mass media companies' reasoning goes...I don't necessarily agree with that
analysis, but it's the philosophy they take time and time again). If they'd
had their way, you wouldn't even be allowed to time-shift.

I'm not aware of any individual ever having been prosecuted under that
aspect of the law, nor any aspect of copyright law for "small-time" copying
(taping music for friends, copying movies from their cable TV signal, etc.)
but that in no way means that the law doesn't allow that sort of thing.

Pete