Wildernessvoice dislikes a slipform DVD he has so much he suggested
renting it instead from www.smartflix.com
What Wildernessvoice may not know is that this company is renting
out small producers' DVDs against their strenuous objection.
I just heard from a publisher of DVDs ( not the slipform guy's) that
this company has NO permission at all to rent out their DVDs.. they
have tried every way they can for over two years to stop the rental
of their materials..... in which they do not see a dime of
compensation.
Sflix company also rents out DVDs by a giant publisher [ I carry many
of their DVDs too- for sale-- the DVDs cost just $20. and sflix rents
them for $10. each) ..I am guessing this big publisher is confined by
the same media regulations.
I imagine other, smaller publishers are concerned about loss of income
too. Apparently DVD producers sell a DVD once t and the DVD
can be rented out for years, with no further compensation.
I am asking all of you-- to consider the business model of this
company, and make your own decision. Every year I see more good books
go out of print because the natural/organic market is too small for
the publishers to keep reprinting them, I'd hate to see this happen to
the smaller DVD producers too.
[scroll to bottom to see the current regulations]
Charmaine Taylor Publishing
Green Building DVDs & Books
10th Anniversary $10. book Sale
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com << see the free papercrete & lime plaster
links
Tel: 1-707-441-1632 PST Eureka, Calif.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
As may of you may recall I also rented out videos for several years at
dirtcheapbuilder.com-- with the permission of the makers.
We all wanted to help new builders to learn. Most people hesitated to
buy a video for $35-$40, if they weren't SURE that was the method they
would build with, and paying for 5-6 different videos was too costly
for most! [Remember there was NO YouTube or other free video clips
five years go either!] Many people DID buy a video once they rented
it, and I applied their rental fee to purchase.
This rental program was actually a " break even/loss" effort for me,
renting the Videos for $5-$9. resulted in, maybe $1. profit to me,
because it added triple the handling time to pack & ship, track,
provide return mailers, email return reminders, phone calls etc. Plus
videos get damaged easily, so they did not last long in the US mail
going back and forth, and I constantly bought new ones to replace the
broken ones.
I did it as a 'labor of love' for the my book buyers, Many people
start out wanting, say, cordwood homes, or an earthship, and totally
change their view once they see what it takes to build.
When publishers switched to DVD format I stopped renting at their
request.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Under US Copyright law, one does not need permission of the original
copyright holder to rent out a lawfully acquired copy of the video
(this is known as the "first sale" doctrine, and is explained in 17
USC, section 109 of the US Copyright law).
Under Canadian Copyright law, one does not need permission of the
original copyright holder to rent out a lawfully acquired copy of the
video (Canadian Consolidated Statutes and Regulations C-42 - 3(1) gives
the copyright holder no right to restrain the rental of lawfully
acquired copies of video recordings).
SmartFlix is a member of EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association), a
trade association of video rental stores and companies. EMA assures us
that the rental of videos is perfectly legal under US and Canadian
copyright laws, regardless of whether the copyright holder has given
its permission. You can learn more about the 'first sale doctrine'
here.
SmartFlix retains the services of Interaction Law in Washington, DC.
SmartFlix has verified with Interaction Law that our business renting
videos complies with all copyright laws.
SmartFlix is aware of the rights held by video renters under the
copyright laws, and vigorously defends itself against false accusations
of copyright infringement.
