RETRO TECH: Disney, Universal once sued over VCRs recording TV
VCRs were once viewed as a threat to the entertainment business.
VCRs were once viewed as a threat to the entertainment business.
VCRs were once viewed as a threat to the entertainment business.
Until 1984, some people felt a thrill hitting 鈥渞ecord鈥� on the VCR. It was a tiny act of rebellion in the face of big companies that did not want consumers recording shows and movies off the TV.
Walt Disney Productions and Universal Studios brought a lawsuit against Sony that made it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said that nowhere is there any indication that it was illegal for millions of TV watchers to copy programs, nor should the sale of the machines that do the copying be prohibited.
The ruling turned TV buffs and gadget gurus from potential outlaws into perfectly legal home movie collectors.
WATCH the video to see how worried consumers and merchants were about the ruling.
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