Audio Video News

The videocassette recorder (VCR) seems quaint today but 32 years ago this week the Supreme Court handed down a landmark 5-4 decision that supported innovation (try to imagine home entertainment without it) and essentially legalized time-shifting—which in those days meant recording a TV show on tape for later viewing. (Consider for a moment what clarifying that right means today.)

In Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., better known as the “Betamax Case”, the high court ruled that time shifting falls under the legal doctrine of “fair use” and does not constitute copyright infringement as Hollywood had alleged. VCR sales skyrocketed, forever changing the home entertainment landscape.

Read attorney Robert Schwartz’s first-hand account of an event that changed the course of tech history.