knight rider online

Well, yesterday I was crusinig eBay (looking at pricing cause I want a Corgi car) and also saw something that put a question in my mind. There were multiple auctions for the complete set of KR of tape. Is this legal? (No, I'n not thinking of buying one- I already have most of the eps on tape) Is it legal to sell them if they have commercials still in the tapes?

Nick

No, it's not, legal, it's just that ebay is so busy pulling "Genuine Space Shuttle Columbia Parts" and "Terrorist Memorabilia", that they don't visit the Knight Rider section very often, on occasion, they do, and they pull those auctions.

KI

It probably is illegal, in some sense. Really depends on how those with the rights to do something about it want to handle it.

Is there a loophole when it comes to selling used video tape and the seller doesn't claim to take responsibility as to what's on said tape? And, if said tape is only being used for private exhibition purposes? Is the auction going for a reasonable price for the number of used cassettes being auctioned, or as something more in the range of collectible?

I've no clue about the answers. Just bringing up questions, is all.

Annnd, they have been answered, ebay isn't exactly caring about excuses, if they see something that they don't agree with, then they yank it when they see it. And they have before when it comes to Knight Rider episodes that are not official releases that are being resold.

KI

KI - yes and no.

True, it is illegal to sell non-licensed tapes and make money from it. However, if the person is selling them for the costs of the tapes only or trading them and not making a profit then it is ok. We had a large discussion about this on another board I'm a member to about that particular series and its spin offs as well. This particular site is affiliated with the companies that both created the show and who holds the copyrights, so we got our answers straight from the horses mouths.

Good. That's the way I was treating it when I was doing dubbings of Knight Rider for people...for the cost of supplies and shipping and nothing more. (Even if my dad wanted me to charge for equipment use and electricity used and this and that...)

DBZ KITT wrote:KI - yes and no.

True, it is illegal to sell non-licensed tapes and make money from it. However, if the person is selling them for the costs of the tapes only or trading them and not making a profit then it is ok. We had a large discussion about this on another board I'm a member to about that particular series and its spin offs as well. This particular site is affiliated with the companies that both created the show and who holds the copyrights, so we got our answers straight from the horses mouths.

And this was portaining to ebay. I know the whole concept otherwise, but on ebay, you are going to be making a profit, no matter how hard you say otherwise. I was referring to the original subject, because otherwise, this subject has been done to death about the grand scheme of things portaining to tape trading, selling, etc.

KI

Some of the laws go back about 25 years when people were first debating whether or not it was legal to videotape a TV show in the first place.

As I understand it, it is legal to record a TV show for your own personal use. That tape becomes your personal property. If you have a garage sale and want to sell off your old tapes, that is legal. I believe you can charge anything you want for it.

I think there are two situations where you run into trouble; you can't record a TV show with the INTENT to sell it (which would be difficult to prove), and you can't "publicly" sell videotapes. A garage sale is considered private so long as you don't specifically advertise the tapes for sale. The internet is blurring that line between what is considered public and what is private. I don't think an absolute firm ruling has been made on that, but eBay will rightly err on the side of caution.

I don't pretend to know the exact letter of the law, but I think those are some of the issues involved.

Mike

I started typing before I saw KI's post... she's right, you definitely can't play the "I'm selling these at cost" card on eBay.

Mike

I've seen about 4 or 5 of these so-called "commercial-free,high-quality"videos pop up on Ebay every day. If the seller has zero feedback,be afraid.Be VERY afraid!

Thanks everyone, that's what I was thinking. And just to clarify, I had no intent to bid on ths auction. I have over 70 eps on tape and have no need for fooling around with something as risky as this.

Nick