online viewing of movies

[travis morgan]

would there be any legal issues with setting up a password protected site for a maximum of 5 friends for viewing a movie at a specific time?

[Taric25]

Sorry, but Movies are for private home exibition only. This is not legal unless you get permision.

[travis morgan]

well...that sucks.

[cofferscuffs]

Besides, you'd have to make it low-resolution and low-bitrate for it to stream smoothly over ADSL.

[travis morgan]

cofferscuffs,

i encoded a short clip of the movie evolution with windows media encoder.

resolution: 320 x 160
bitrate: 386

sample clip (http://users2.ev1.net/~warlord/windowsmedia)

if you've got a lan/dsl connection, check it out.

[cofferscuffs]

I gave it a shot, but I'm on 56k so it was jerky - but the codec does an alright job as it smooths the video to an extent. Try using RealVideo 8 with the VBR hack. For info on it go here: http://www.geocities.com/lukesvideo/index.html.

[travis morgan]

cofferscuffs,

i also did a short clip with realproducer too.

resolution: 320 x 160
bitrate: 450 (2-pass, vbr)

sample clip (http://users2.ev1.net/~warlord/realmedia/evolution.html)

[cofferscuffs]

RealMedia 8 would be your best bet... if you own the original video so you can stream ;).

[travis morgan]

cofferscuffs,

if i own the dvd, it would be legal for me to make a copy and stream it?

[cofferscuffs]

Erm.. not totally sure. No would be my best guess as if you own the DVD it is for private & personal use only. I don't know whether that extends to streaming it for yourself. If you stream it to your friends it's definatly illegal, even if they own the DVD, as the video is not for public (i.e. group) showing. You really have to own the source video.

[gooki]

But if that were true then it'd be illegal for your friends to come round to your house and watch the movie.

I'd say it would be legal if you followed the folling rules.

1. Only streamed it to your friends and no-one else.
2. Took mesures to ensure that your friends were in a residential dwelling when viewing the streamed footage.
3. You own an origional copy of the movie you are streaming.
4. You do not charge for the streaming footage.

Note: The above applies to people living in new zealand as that is the only country which i am familar with their legal terms in regards to intelectual property/media distribution laws.

[jggimi]

So, gooki, you're an attorney? Familiar with laws in your home country as well as in the country of origin for the content?

You'd need to be ...

[cofferscuffs]

3. You own an origional copy of the movie you are streaming.
Are we talking about a DVD here (as that is not the source) or the actual source video?

[jggimi]

There's an e-commerce website that's been in the news lately. www.movie88.com (http://www.movie88.com). Based in Taiwan. They offer realmedia streams of movies from all sorts of sources.

It's in the news, because the content owners -- represented primarly by US interests -- are up-in-arms about it. Taiwanese law may or may not protect them, according to pundits who've been interviewed.

Good luck, ooki.

[gooki]

But when you watch a dvd on your tv your streaming the footage over copper cable from your dvd player to your TV.

So what's the difference to streaming it over the net.

Also my above statement:

I'd say it would be legal if you followed the folling rules.

should have read:

I'd say it would not be criminal if you followed the folling rules.

And a 5th rule sould also been added:
5. Ensure that only one person is watching the movie at a time.

Once again this applies to new zealand criminal law only.

Thnaks. .Gooki

[Bugs Bunny]

For the US, what you're doing would be illegal--or at least, outside of fair use laws, which allow you certain freedom in duplicating/distributing content WITHIN THE CONFINES of your home. Once you distribute content outside of your house, the lawyers can peg ya. What you're talking doing is the same as Napster, but only on a smaller scale.

But there are rules, then there are RULES. If you want to share vids with friends, then it's no big deal; only keep it discreet and don't get noticed. It's like speeding. Everybody I know goes over the speed limit, but the trick is not to go TOO MUCH over the limit, as that's when the cops will pull ya over. My rule of thumb is to stick to 10 miles over the limit, but on safe stretches, I'll go 15 or 20 over. Ya just gotta keep it within the tolerance of the radar guns.


Anyway, I have a question fer any bloke who knows: Do the vid servers now allow multicasting (i.e. concurrent streaming to multiple sources with only one stream)?