Crackdown in the Living Room

By JAY COCKS

A court decision finds home taping to be illegal

You want to talk about it now?"

"Give me a cigarette first," the Consumer said.

The Detective slid him the pack.

"Some you watch, right? Then erase. Some you keep. Let's hear about those."

"My Little Margie, complete." The Consumer's cigarette stuck to his dry lips, and he burned his finger trying to rescue it. "Twilight Zone. Gilligan's Island and The Muppets for the kids. I videotaped the royal wedding but I erased it."

The Detective leaned in. "Erase them, keep them. No difference. How many shows you tape with your Betamax?"

"I don't know," the Consumer said.

"Some. Maybe a lot."

"You've had it," the man from the D.A.'s office interrupted. "You broke the law, Pirate. You're liable for damages."

"For what? Since when? And don't call me Pirate."

"For infringing on the rights of the copyright owners."

"But it was only for my own private use. Me and the family. There was a court decision. In Los Angeles. In 1979. It said if you don't charge admission or try to make a profit off the copyrighted material..

"Forget it," the Detective snarled.

"Don't you read the papers?"

"It was on television too," the D.A.'s man sneered. "But maybe you were too busy taping to see it. Last week. In San Francisco. An appellate court said guys like you, and companies that make video machines for guys like you, and companies that advertise to guys like you, and stores that sell to guys like you, you're all liable for damages if you record off the air."

"You're in a lot of trouble," the Detective said.

"Geez, this is the dumbest thing I ever heard," the Consumer said. "I want to call my lawyer."

When the Lawyer showed up, the Detective said suspiciously, "You're not the Lawyer."

"A Junior Partner," he admitted.

"Well, hurry up," snapped the D.A.'s man. "I'm busy."

"You're busy?" the Junior Partner said. "There's about 3 million people in this country who own videotape recorders and I think we got calls from every one of them." He pulled papers from his briefcase like Kleenex from a box. "You know Sony expects to take this to the Supreme Court."

"Well, it was Universal City Studios and Walt Disney Productions that initiated the action against them, and they'll be there too," said the Detective. The D.A.'s man was incredulous. "You'd go to court against Mickey Mouse?"

"We've got a strong case," said the Junior Partner. "When Congress amended he 1909 Copyright Act in 1971, it indicated that it is permissible to tape radio programs off the air for private use."

"Wait a second," said the D.A.'s man.

The Junior Partner paid no attention.

"Also the federal judge in San Francisco hasn't awarded any damages yet, so there is no provision for penalties. This thing is snowballing. Japan is going to produce 20 million video recorders a year by 1983. It could be too big to stop."

"Nothing's too big to stop," the Detective snorted.

"Hey, we're talking $1 billion worth of business in the American market alone," the Lawyer said. "Just this year. The Japanese make most of these machines--Sony, Matsushita, Hitachi. Think what it would do to their economy if..

"Who cares about their economy?" the Detective said, biting into a candy bar.

"Let them make the video machines so they can't tape off the air," the D.A.'s man said.

"Then they wouldn't really be video recorders, would they?" said the Junior Partner. "There are a lot of ideas about this. Like making the manufacturers pay part of their profit from the machines into a royalty pool that would be split up among the people who produce the stuff that's being taped in the first place."

"Whew," said the Consumer.

The Detective threw the candy wrapper across the room. "How're we supposed to enforce any of this?" he growled. "It's like Prohibition."

"Maybe touchier," said the Junior Partner. "You're dealing with copyright law here."

The Consumer brightened. Hey, I've got a Paper Chase episode."

The Junior Partner talked even faster.

"Some Congressmen have just introduced bills to amend the copyright laws to permit noncommercial videotaping. The Supreme Court will likely decide to hear this case, but they won't have a decision until next July, the earliest."

"What if they don't hear it?" the Consumer asked.

"Then the appellate decision stands, and the federal district court has to figure 'relief ' for the plaintiffs. Royalty rates. Taxes on machines. Or maybe even stopping the machines from being imported."

"That's a long shot," said the Junior Partner. "And you know it. Anyhow, my client can walk out of here right now. Until the judiciary nails this thing down." He turned to the Consumer. "You didn't sign anything, did you?"

"No," said the Consumer. But he pointed to a wall mirror, and added, "They asked me if they could videotape this, though, and I said, 'Sure.'''

There was a short silence. The Junior Partner handed his business cards to the Detective and the D.A.'s man. "Call me when you need me,"he said.

--By Jay Cocks

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