posted on October 12, 2000 07:22:20 AM
eBay is now allowing NTSC conversions of commercially released PAL format VHS tapes to be sold on their venue!
PAL format tapes are produced and sold commercially by companies like Warner Brothers and FOX in the UK, and they cannot be played on most North American VCRs. Some enterprising sellers have converted these tapes to NTSC and they are being allowed to sell their converted copies on eBay.
Technically, of course, this is no different than selling copies of rental tapes or other commercially released tapes, CDs or DVDs, but eBay is now allowing this.
I am not sure what changed their mind (maybe the word 'conversion' instead of 'copy' has confused them), but they have stated that they have investigated a couple of different listings for these items and that their appropriate action is to allow the auction to proceed.
This could mean a whole flock of returnees from Yahoo where sales of video tapes like this have been allowed since Day 1.
This is great news for us North American folks who do not have access to the teevee stuff commercially sold in the UK ... finally (!) we can get clear copies with no ads and no on screen 'bugs'
posted on October 12, 2000 10:53:33 AM
There are several models of VHS converter systems. One is Panasonic AG-W3 NTS/PAL converter VCR. The suggested retail price is about $2,000.
posted on October 12, 2000 11:09:00 AM
Yes, NTSC is the North American Standard.
The problem from a collector's point-of-view is that most television series that get commercially released in their 'uncut' versions are released in the UK only using their PAL format.
A conversion from PAL to NTSC is identical to making a pirate or bootleg copy of a rental tape here. It still involves copying the information from the 'master' tape to a blank tape, only the signal runs through a convertor.
This is the part that I find hard to believe with eBay's stance. A converted copy is NOT an original - the manufacturer, distributor, and owner of the material do not get a piece of the money when these copies are sold.
There are machines available, albeit expensive, that will allow us to play NTSC, PAL and SECAM (France) formatted tapes, so it's not like we are not able to buy and use the PAL product. I, personally, have several PAL original tapes (Friends, Stargate, The Prisoner, Crusade, Bionic Woman, etc. etc.) that I have been reluctant to copy (convert) and sell in North America. Up until this week, I figured the eBay rules regarding copies (conversions) of commercially released tapes prohibited their sales. After all, doing this is really no different than renting a new movie from your favourite video joint, making a copy, then selling the copy.
The problem is going to occur when sellers start making copies of their copies - the quality of the image degrades for each 'generation' of copy, and eventually some poor buyer is going to buy a tape that is virtually unwatchable.
This is an interesting loophole that will allow me to recover the costs of my PAL tapes yet still keep my originals
[ edited by RB on Oct 12, 2000 11:26 AM ]
posted on October 12, 2000 03:22:32 PM
"eBay is now allowing NTSC conversions of commercially released PAL format VHS tapes to be sold on their venue! "
posted on October 12, 2000 03:34:41 PM
RB, that is good news for you, but to me it still seems illegal. I would consider those tapes as bootleg copies. I wonder why eBay allows that...
posted on October 12, 2000 05:26:15 PM
celebrityskin - it is implied by the fact that eBay allows them to remain after they have investigated them ... I have written them to get a ruling before I list tho.
