Hi,
At a recent dance practice night, we were discussing the cost of dance DVD's. It turned out that two members of the club where thinking of buying the same DVD. It was then suggested that we share the cost which resulted in 5 of us willing to pay the shared amount. We decided that the person who orders the DVD would be the first to view. There is nothing illegal in what we want to do and the copying of the DVD, when in your ownership, is not recommended with that being illegal. Does anyone know of this already being done?

Anonymous. They are not that easy to copy unless you have special equipment.

Legality?

I think it depends on where you live.

Here (Canada), if you have your own personal copy to protect against damage you should be all right. But if you're copying for a lot of other people you run into a grey area. If you're copying and selling...Well!

Awhile back here the music publishers went after all the church choirs and won big. In music festivals here 2 original copies must be present: one for the student/accompanist and one for the judge. Copies can only be used if the originals are present.

Restaurants, etc. are regularly raided and fined for playing "canned" music unless the have paid a "SOCAN" fee that pays royalties to recording artists. This makes perfect sense to me as restaurant owners are using music to enhance there business.

Our ballroom dance club pays the SOCAN fee. We use copied music to create our own combinations but we can produce the original discs if asked.

On the other hand part of the problem is the high cost of ballroom DVDs ($49US - $99US). If the price were lower the companies producing DVDs might find they sell a lot more.

We will soon be offering International Syllabus DVDs locally in the $15 US range.

OB
http://www.dancingdragon52.com