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- Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
- Path: sparky!uunet!looking!brad
- From: brad@clarinet.com (Brad Templeton)
- Subject: Re: Film/video room
- Organization: ClariNet Communications Corp.
- Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1993 02:49:24 GMT
- Message-ID: <1993Jan04.024924.24731@clarinet.com>
- References: <1i53j0INN33g@werple.apana.org.au> <1993Jan03.021241.12466@clarinet.com> <1993Jan3.235250.16439@blaze.cs.jhu.edu>
- Lines: 32
-
- I have no idea why such productions are delayed several years into
- foreign markets, and if somebody knows for sure, let them speak.
-
- However, to delve into speculation, I would suspect it's basic risk
- avoidance. Why show a new show when it comes out when you can wait
- a while, see what a success it is, and then make a risk-free decision to
- buy it for an audience with almost no exposure to it? It may even be
- the case that you pay lower rates to get it later, too.
-
- I suppose the cost of satellite time also figures into it. Satellite
- time to Australia is costly so you would have to either pay the high
- double-satellite price, or more likely ship the tapes by plane and
- redup them or do another satellite feed down there.
-
- Since there is very little reason not to wait a year or more, I expect
- they just do it.
-
- This is off the topic of whether it's ok to show these things at cons.
- Once again the standard rationalization we see in almost all such
- violations comes forward. "Come on now, I'm not hurting them."
- (Or better still, "Hey, I'm giving them free publicity.")
- Copyright law has a remarkably simple system to deal with this question,
- which is you ask the copyright owners for permission. They get to
- decide. Yet somehow few of the "come on now, I'm not hurting them"
- crowd take the time to ask. Sometimes they're right, and the copyright
- holder gives permission.
-
- On the other hand, if it's a public showing at a con you have to pay money
- to enter, they have every right to expect and demand a piece of the
- money.
- --
- Brad Templeton, ClariNet Communications Corp. -- Sunnyvale, CA 408/296-0366
-