Can FTA be used for commercial purposes?

[sunnysal]

I am curious if a rural CATV system could add FTA programming to bulk up thier offerings. If they were to add FTA programs to their basic tier is that permitted? What about an overseas CATV operator? If he pulls down FTA signals and rebroadcasts them to his CATV clients is he breaking the law? thanks for helping me understand this issue. T

 

[grusome]

I would imagine that a huge lawsuit would occur if someone resold programming like that wheather or not it is FTA or not. It would be wise to check with the providers of those channels before even thinking of redistributing them in any fashion.
They don't uplink those channels for free, so, someone has to pay.
grusome

 

[tftc22]

A restaurant can't show the Super Bowl without approval even if it picks up the signal via an over the air antenna. I assume the same type of rules apply to FTA. Even though you picked up the signal in the clear for free doesn't give you the rights to retransmit the channel commercially.

 

[sunnysal]

Thanks for the feedback. Some seem to be available for re-distribution without restrictions (like CSPAN, most religous stations and TVE) while others require simply the signing of contracts without fees (like DW, PBS), while others require contracts and fees...I wonder if there is any reference that shows which is which? Thanks again for the help. T

 

[Mr Tony]

You might want to contact some of the channel providers. Obviously the stuff that is on C-Band unencrypted is there for a reason. Also there are some channels that are on C-band because the agreement they have with providers forces them to be on C-band (Spirit & TVU are 2 examples)

 

[sunnysal]

thanks Ice, that is what perked my interest all that free to air (no digicypher, etc.) on C-band suggested they didnt care who used it and for what. on Ku I expected something different. T

 

[Anole]

Whitesprings is very liberal about letting you rebroadcast their programming.
Read the fine print - for so many hours a day, they'll even give you a receiver.
White Springs - Engineering

NASA is probably friendly, considering it's government.
Not sure you can take the feed off Dish Network, but if you get it off C-band, you might be okay.
It's a public service.
But, do check with them first.

... that is what perked my interest all that free to air (no digicypher, etc.) on C-band suggested they didnt care who used it and for what. ...

I wouldn't make any such assumptions.

 

[HokieEngineer]

It would probably be wise to consult a lawyer before retransmitting anything. You would also need to put a clause in the CATV system agreement that channels may disappear at any time, since most of whats up there isn't garunteed to be there tomorrow .

 

[sunnysal]

understood, no retransmit without explicit premission granted. I was just trying to look for clues as to who does not want fees for retransmitting, thinking that c-band without encyrpt could be an indicator. the best would be if there was a reference list of channels that allowed retransmission without fees. T

 

[techno935]

Amateur TV operators sometimes use NASA during missions. I'm assuming that is legal. So long as the operator tells NASA and the operator of the ATV station displays his calls.


Read up on ATV (amatuer tv) not the dirt bikes and see whats out there.

 

[qwert1515]

I believe NASA TV is considered a public broadcast, and thats what makes it ok to re-broadcast.

I hope they do not add FTA channels to cable since that might give the broadcasters a good reason to encrypt and make more money.

 

[Tron]

Actually, many of the channels that are FTA up there are uplinked specifically for use by cable operators. It is reasonable to assume, however, that there is an agreement and probably a contract between the uplinker(s) and the cable companies.

 

[laseradam]

I think 3ABN will allow you to rebroadcast, or use their signal on cable for free. They may even supply you the equipment to do so.

I'm sure they have an contract for you to sign to make it legal.

3ABN: Christian Television - Three Angels Broadcasting Network - www.3abn.org

 

[mastermesh]

the rebroadcaster needs to contact the stations involved and maybe a lawyer too and get it all straightened out.

On a side note, anything that's "public domain" can be broadcast freely. A good portion, but not all (I think?) the stuff on White Springs TV is public domain... if you really want public domain stuff download from prelinger archives - do a google for it. Many older movies sort of are public domain now, but you should check with a lawyer to make sure which ones are and are not. Lots of cable providers show public domain movies around holidays, especially Christmas. I think it's a wonderful life mainly just gets broadcast as much as it does solely because it is pd.

I've been wanting to do some public domain remixes for a while using stuff pulled out of prelinger and librivox and either just adding specific public domain images to the sounds and/or making my own visuals for some interesting and possibly halucinagenic type stuff that has some deep meanings.

Here's some good info to check out:
Public domain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copyrights are more complex than patents; generally, in current law, the copyright in a published work expires in all countries (except Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Samoa, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) when any of the following conditions are satisfied :

The work was created and first published before January 1, 1923, or at least 95 years before January 1 of the current year, whichever is later;
The last surviving author died at least 70 years before January 1 of the current year;
No Berne Convention signatory has passed a perpetual copyright on the work; and
Neither the United States nor the European Union has passed a copyright term extension since these conditions were last updated. (This must be a condition because the exact numbers in the other conditions depend on the state of the law at any given moment.)
These conditions are based on the intersection of United States and European Union copyright law, which most other Berne Convention signatories recognize. Note that copyright term extension under U.S. tradition usually does not restore copyright to public domain works (hence the 1923 date), but European tradition does because the EU harmonization was based on the copyright term in Germany, which had already been extended to life plus 70.

The claim that "pre-1923 works are in the public domain" is correct only for published works; unpublished works are under federal copyright for at least the life of the author plus 70 years. For a work made for hire, the copyright in a work created before 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or registered for copyright, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.[4] If the work was created before 1978 but first published on or before December 31, 2002, the work is covered by federal copyright until 2047.

Works published with notice of copyright or registered in unpublished form prior to January 1, 1964, had to be renewed during the 28th year of their first term of copyright to maintain copyright for a full 95-year term

Until the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, the lack of a proper copyright notice would place an otherwise copyrightable work into the public domain, although for works published between January 1, 1978 and February 28, 1989, this could be prevented by registering the work with the Library of Congress within 5 years of publication. After March 1, 1989, an author's copyright in a work begins when it is fixed in a tangible form; neither publication nor registration is required, and a lack of a copyright notice does not place the work into the public domain.

Sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, were generally covered by common law or in some cases by statutes enacted in certain states, but were not covered by federal copyright law. The 1976 Copyright Act, effective 1978, provides federal copyright for unpublished and published sound recordings fixed on or after February 15, 1972. Recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are still covered, to varying degrees, by common law or state statutes.[6] Any rights or remedies under state law for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are not annulled or limited by the 1976 Copyright Act until February 15, 2067.[7]

Basically what all that means is that if you can prove the work was made prior to 1923, it should be in public domain... if it's after that, it might be, but you should find out as much as possible to see if it meets all the qualifications.... basic rule of thumb is to always follow the 1923 rule unless someone can prove it's after 1923 and is still pd... Prelinger Archives stuff should have been checked and double checked a few times to make sure it's ok so it should be good to go... Also stuff in gutenburg project should be ok... which means stuff in librivox is ok since librivox stuff is based on gutenburg stuff, just making it audio...

Eventually, I want to use some of the stuff on librivox, like the Shakespeare and Greek Plays, when they get done, and have all different voices for all different parts as vocals for some animation projects I want to do... for some animation portfolio building stuff... way easier and cheaper to use their vocals than try to hire real voice actors.

 

[Corrado]

Amateur TV operators sometimes use NASA during missions. I'm assuming that is legal. So long as the operator tells NASA and the operator of the ATV station displays his calls.


Read up on ATV (amatuer tv) not the dirt bikes and see whats out there.

Amateur TV sounds interesting, I have never heard of it. I will research into this...

Nearby here is a TV station that went off the air several years ago. I was thinking about what it would take to buy it and start it up as an RTN affiliate. Buffalo has WNGS-WKBW on the other side of the state.

Probably a legal nightmare. But a fun thought.

 

[jayelem]

DWTV and RTPI also allow rebroadcasting of signal , but please look into it.

About a year ago a fellow forum member was adding RTPI to a local cable co. in Canada , from what I understood the channel could be rebroadcast free of charge.

The re-use of DW programmes is generally free of charge, but does require a contractual agreement. These can be negotiated with the DW Distribution department (see: Business & Sales).

What is rebroadcasting? | FAQ's | Deutsche Welle | 09.10.2001