"Blank" used VHS tapes

[swimmingtexas74]

My parents just gave me many VHS tapes that were recored from the TV back in the day. Many are kids and action movies, along with sports. Can these be sold as "blank" used VHS tapes? I'm thinking the movies might be able to but not the sports. What's the rule? 

[a_c_green]

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@mansons2005 wrote:
I have no idea what the copyright issues are

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Well, technically, you're in violation by selling the recordings for which you don't hold the copyright, although I think the only way to get yourself into real trouble would be if you were making your own duplicates on vintage media (old blank VHS tapes or whatever), and selling those, because then you're basically setting yourself as a publisher, but you don't have the rights to go duplicating the material. (You don't officially have the right to go selling the first source recording either, but if all you're doing is unloading the original old tape itself and nothing else, you're probably so low on the radar that no one would notice.)

Official disclaimer: it is still wrong to sell the home-made recording(s), no matter how much I minimize it here. 

[thallidguy]

I suspect that eBay regards copyright enforcement in this matter as it does in pretty much every other copyright-related matter: If the rights holder complains to them (especially through the VeRO program), then the listing and the user are toast. Short of that, eBay can't be bothered.

That being said, I would never advise someone to list something in violation of copyright law for a few reasons, of which the fact that it is against board policy is only one. Another is the risk-reward ratio: Sure, you might not get caught, but there's always some chance that you might. The risk may be slight, but it's not negligible — you see YouTube accounts banned all the time for posting material in violation of copyright laws, and those people aren't even making any money off of it. Is whatever trouble you might bring down on yourself worth the risk? It comes down to the old Dirty Harry question about whether or not you feel lucky.

[bubbleman2010]

I have every episode of Don Krishner Rock Concerts and every episode of Wolfman Jacks Midnight special all on high quality VHS. A copy used to bring $30.00,but that was back in the early days now its a big ebay NO NO....

[emerald40]

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@bubbleman2010 wrote:

I have every episode of Don Krishner Rock Concerts and every episode of Wolfman Jacks Midnight special all on high quality VHS. A copy used to bring $30.00,but that was back in the early days now its a big ebay NO NO....

___________________________________________

Been here since 1999 and it was always a no no.

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[7198dave]

what sports is on the tapes. Any NFL?

[d-k_treasures]

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@7198dave wrote:

what sports is on the tapes. Any NFL?

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I'm thinking that some who buy these recorded blanks are hoping for some 'bedroom sports'. I've run across some of those when buying box lots of home-recorded VHS tapes.

[mg152]

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@duchess-at-speakeasy wrote:
Sure, if you erase the content. Maybe someone would like the old sports content?

Who has VHS equipment these days?

~~C~~

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We have 2 VCRs.

[18704d]

"are you telling every single one of these people broke the rules?"

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Most, if not all, appear to violate the eBay policy I referenced.

Lynn

[18704d]

Ok old timers,

My old VCR from the early 80s has a tethered remote control.

That means a cord running from the 'clicker' we had on the coffee table, into the back of the VCR.

Have to be careful not to trip on it when needing a break watching the movies then.

Lynn

[7198dave]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@7198dave wrote:

what sports is on the tapes. Any NFL?

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I'm thinking that some who buy these recorded blanks are hoping for some 'bedroom sports'. I've run across some of those when buying box lots of home-recorded VHS tapes.

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I could just see that, you're watching the football game on tape suddenly it cuts to the bedroom. The tape was put away in a secret spot, then years later wife finds it and see's it's marked Super Bowl and she puts it with the other sports tapes to be sold.

[shevey55]

How do you erase the tapes?

I had hundreds of VHS tapes. I removed the labels and donated most of them. The important stuff (like my kids' school plays) I'm dubbing to digital, and I'll keep them on VHS too. I have at least 4 working VCRs. I still prefer them to my DVR for recording off of TV.

[a_c_green]

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@shevey55 wrote:

How do you erase the tapes?

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Radio Shack (remember that outfit?) used to sell a bulk tape eraser, which was basically just a really big plug-in electromagnet on a handle. Hold that against a VHS tape and it would rearrange the magnetic fields on the videotape. Supposedly it could wipe the tape so thoroughly that it was "quieter" for making new recordings without any risk of an old recording bleeding through, or something like that. Otherwise, you could erase tapes one at a time by unplugging the VCR's input and just recording two hours of static over the old programming.

Realistically, I think if you simply peeled off the old labels and sold them as used blanks, that would suffice, since no one including yourself would know what random contents were on any given tape.

[sockmonkeydave]

@swimmingtexas74

No comment on the content side.

But to me blank would seem to indicate new, even if you put used in the listing.

And as said above these tapes do degrade with time.

Are VHS tapes still being produced ?

I was looking for a vintage tool, and found they were being made in China.

[billythekid16]

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@sockmonkeydave wrote:

Are VHS tapes still being produced ?

I was looking for a vintage tool, and found they were being made in China.

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Blank VHS tapes stopped being produced 10 years ago (2008).

Funai, the last company to make VCRs, stopped doing so two years ago (2016).

[sockmonkeydave]

@billythekid16

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@billythekid16 wrote:

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@sockmonkeydave wrote:

Are VHS tapes still being produced ?

I was looking for a vintage tool, and found they were being made in China.

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Blank VHS tapes stopped being produced 10 years ago (2008).

Funai, the last company to make VCRs, stopped doing so two years ago (2016).

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I put "tool" but to be honest, I don't remember what it was.

But it was an item that had ended production years ago.

It was now being made in China.

You can bet if there was demand for VHS tapes and players, they would make them 

over there.