Do fair use rights for consumers harm the content industry?
Definitely not. None of the rights that we are advocating would make it legal to steal music or movies. In fact, history has shown us that robust fair use rights can actually benefit the content industry. For example, the content industry bitterly opposed VCRs, arguing that they infringed on their copyrights for movies. The head of the MPAA even compared the VCR to the Boston Strangler. However, the sale of video tapes now represents a large source of revenue for the movie studios. http://www.mbcnet.org/archives/etv/B/htmlB/betamaxcase/betamaxcase.htm “The plaintiffs, Universal and Walt Disney Productions on behalf of the Hollywood majors, charged that the ability of the Betamax to copy programming off air was an infringement of copyright and sought to halt the sale of the machines.” http://cryptome.org/hrcw-hear.htm “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.” http://www.consolidat
