Funferal

Time up for time-shifting?

I don’t know if it’s because of, or despite, their intensely sarcastic style, but ntk is an extremely informative bulletin on developments (particularly in the UK and Europe) relating to technology and related topics such as copyright, patents and ‘eDemocracy’ efforts. In today’s bulletin they talk about time-shifting. First they speculate about the possible implications of the Grokster case:

In the ancestor to this case, 1984’s Betamax judgement, the Supremes declared that recording TV shows to watch later (time-shifting) was fair use in the United States. That surprised a lot of copyright scholars at the time – but four years later, time-shifting was declared a explicit, limited exemption under UK copyright law too. If making file-sharing software is seen as an illegal activity in the US, there’s a good chance that British MPs will decide to make the same true here. And after that, why not start having another peck at the time-shifting “liberty”, too?

So much, so speculative. But this is the joy of ntk – they then point to a submission by BECTU (a trade union of those working in film, broadcasting and live entertainment) in response to a European consultation on the copyright directive. BECTU are clear about what they want:

Along with other rights owners we are opposed to the continuance of the exception for time-shifting and, at the very least, would appreciate an assurance from the Government that S.70 CDPA 1988 will be limited solely to analogue activities.

So that show you record to watch later in the evening? You shouldn’t be allowed to do that – or you should pay for the privilege.
The idea of allowing time-shifting only for ‘analogue’ activities is a beautiful piece of fraud, as analogue broadcasting (radio and television) are due to be phased out shortly, so the right to time-shift would disappear with the transition.
Incidentally, ntk also point to Harold Feld’s report on the US Supreme Court hearings on both Grokster and Brand X – entertaining and essential reading if you’re interested in following these events.