karn (02/22/83)
I haven't heard much recently on this case in the past several weeks.
How long did the court arguments take, and what were they? When is a
decision expected?
>From what little I've seen, it would appear that the movie studio forces
took the WEAKEST possible argument, namely that home taping would
"deprive the advertisers of the value of their ads, since home users
would delete the commercials". Did they make any other arguments,
e.g., regarding taping pay TV services as opposed to "free" TV?
I can't possibly believe that they would win with just the force of the
"free TV" argument; I read one AP story in which a Justice vocalized
considerable skepticism toward the movie studio lawyer. As I understand
copyright law, if there is ANY principle of "fair use" at all,
home taping of broadcast TV certainly qualifies.
Phil Karn