According to their FAQ, they're saying that their non-licensed products are not copyrighted in the US under the Berne COnvention: Quote:
There is a section of the American copyright law known as "The Berne Act" that Clearly states: films unreleased in the United States,
including original versions of films altered and/or edited for release in the United
States, are NOT protected by American copyright; thus, they are considered public domain. The entire purpose of our website is to provide otherwise unavailable films or television shows to the serious collector. (The "Berne Act" is the US ratification of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works) It's worth noting that the Berne Convention doesn't say what they claim, and even if it did, it wouldn't apply in the case of these titles which were produced in the US explicitly copyrighted there. What the Berne Convention does say is that a content provider doesn't need to file an official copyright notice, but that copyright can be assumed in a jurisdiction as soon as it is published there. When these shows were first broadcast, a copyright would have been established, even if it wasn't filed with the Copyright Office. Had the titles not been broadcast or otherwise released in the US, and no explicit copyright filed, they would be right in saying that no US copyright existed and they were in the public domain, but that has nothing to do with the Berne Convention which solely exists to make it easier for content providers to claim copyright. These guys are pirates,a nd they're citing a minor article of copyright law to defend their piracy in the hopes that no-one will go and look up what it actually says. Caveat Emptor. |