Tennis matches on DVD...

[dufferok]

I was wondering if Tennis Warehouse was ever going to offer past tennis matches on DVD. I'd love to find DVDs of the Bryan brothers playing doubles for instructional purposes.

If Tennis Warehouse does not ever plan on selling matches on DVD, do you know if there is anywhere on the net to buy past tennis matches on DVD?

Thanks.

 

[Zverev]

Very good question.
It remains mystery to me why such a good business opportunity is not taken yet. Why can't we buy say US Open final 2000, or "Best matches of Fabrice Santoro", etc, the possibilities are limitless.
Where is all this stuff? Who owns it?

 

[Yours!05]

I was wondering if Tennis Warehouse was ever going to offer past tennis matches on DVD. I'd love to find DVDs of the Bryan brothers playing doubles for instructional purposes.

If Tennis Warehouse does not ever plan on selling matches on DVD, do you know if there is anywhere on the net to buy past tennis matches on DVD?

Thanks.

You could contact board member splink779.

 

[thatballwas_IN]

try your friendly search engine for RAVENHAWKS TENNIS DVD ....

 

[dmastous]

There are very few "authorized" tennis match DVDs available. Wimbledon has a few Mac/Borg 80 & 81 and Agassi/Rafter 2001 (?). Plus an Evert/Naveratalova final. I saw some Australian Open matches available on the AO website as well.
There are a number of people providing matches under the radar, and you'll find some by doing searches.
I'm not sure what the hold up is on offering what I'd like to see. That's a box set of an Open Tournament. Say the 1984 French with key matches in their entirety like the finals of the men's and women's singles & doubles, plus other notable matches.
The problem is more than likely who gets how much of the pie ?
Do the players get paid for the DVDs with their matches on them?
Does the tournament owner or sponsor get paid?
What about the chair umpire and ball people?
The broadcast feed that was used is owned by ABC or NBC or CBS.
All these things would need to be negotiated for an official DVD, and I would guess there's just not enough of a market to justify putting something together like that.
Hope it happens someday though.

Dan

 

[splink779]

The problem is more than likely who gets how much of the pie ?
Do the players get paid for the DVDs with their matches on them?
Does the tournament owner or sponsor get paid?
What about the chair umpire and ball people?
The broadcast feed that was used is owned by ABC or NBC or CBS.
All these things would need to be negotiated for an official DVD, and I would guess there's just not enough of a market to justify putting something together like that.
Hope it happens someday though.

Dan

This is very true. There is probably a market for somthing like Football games, but like you said, no way to determine who gets what of the pie.

 

[dufferok]

So are those who are selling home recorded matches breaking any laws? Is it legal to sell home recorded matches over the internet like some are doing?

I know you cannot sell recorded NFL games without the consent of the NFL, so how about tennis matches?

Those that are selling the home recorded matches, have you had to get written permission from the USTA or even looked into the legalities of selling home recorded matches?

 

[Safina]

yes they are all criminals and need to be jailed immediately...
(posting this since TW removed my last post which was more open minded )

 

[dufferok]

Looking for a serious answer from Tennis Warehouse staff or other regarding legality issues selling home recorded matches on DVD.

Before purchasing a home recorded match, I want to make sure I'm not breaking any laws.

I'm not interested in the few DVDs that tennis warehouse does sale. I'm interested in recent doubles matches from the US Open and Australian Open.

 

[J D]

Dufferock, I commend you for wanting to do the right thing. Here's the copyright info. You are allowed to make a single copy of a broadcast for personal use. This cannot be sold or traded. You must destroy the copy when you are done using it (rather than selling it, trading it, or even giving it away).

The company that produces the original broadcast holds the copyright for these materials automatically without having to apply for a copyright. The people that are selling unauthorized copies of matches are committing a federal offense punishable by huge fines. Technically, the purchasers could also be prosecuted, but they have not started doing that YET with illegal tapes and DVDs. Still, I wouldn't want my name in some bootlegger's data base because it most likely is just a matter of time before they do crack down.

 

[TW Staff]

We delete all posts and links to commercial websites as stated in our policies - the reason for the removal of Safina's previous post.

We are in no position to comment on the copyright issue on other sites, as we do not know if the individuals are selling legally or illegally produced DVDs.

We continue to expand our DVD and video offerings and just recently added a new vendor that produces classic match DVDs. We will continue to bring in new titles when available.

Chris, TW.

 

[dmastous]

Dufferock, I commend you for wanting to do the right thing. Here's the copyright info. You are allowed to make a single copy of a broadcast for personal use. This cannot be sold or traded. You must destroy the copy when you are done using it (rather than selling it, trading it, or even giving it away).

The company that produces the original broadcast holds the copyright for these materials automatically without having to apply for a copyright. The people that are selling unauthorized copies of matches are committing a federal offense punishable by huge fines. Technically, the purchasers could also be prosecuted, but they have not started doing that YET with illegal tapes and DVDs. Still, I wouldn't want my name in some bootlegger's data base because it most likely is just a matter of time before they do crack down.

So those who do sell them just do so from other coutries. The copyright laws are only applicable in the US. The only way to shut down someone selling copyrighted material is to get the local gov't to shut them down. And that takes $$$$.
I've heard recently that customs is cracking down on people going outside the US and bringing in unauthorized copies of software, music and movies. These are easily available in Malaysia and the Philippines (from personal experience) and probably all over SE Asia.
In the end copyright laws are outdated and due for a complete overhaul. The computer has made it impossible to defend anymore.

 

[J D]

So those who do sell them just do so from other coutries. The copyright laws are only applicable in the US. The only way to shut down someone selling copyrighted material is to get the local gov't to shut them down.

Dmastous, while this is true, it doesn't apply to most of the cases mentioned on TT. Almost everyone I have seen selling matches is in the US. All of the producers are in the US. The buyers are almost all in the US, also. So, while it would be the smart move to base an operation overseas to avoid prosecution, that isn't the case here. Besides, I don't know too many people in the US that would be willing to order their tennis matches from Nigeria.

However, if there ever is a crack down and the tennis bootleggers do move overseas, the government will probably start prosecuting the purchasers since they will have to shut down the flow at the end rather than the source. This is all the more reason to avoid buying illegally (besides the fact that it is stealing from the original producers).

 

[dmastous]

Dmastous, while this is true, it doesn't apply to most of the cases mentioned on TT. Almost everyone I have seen selling matches is in the US. All of the producers are in the US. The buyers are almost all in the US, also. So, while it would be the smart move to base an operation overseas to avoid prosecution, that isn't the case here. Besides, I don't know too many people in the US that would be willing to order their tennis matches from Nigeria.

However, if there ever is a crack down and the tennis bootleggers do move overseas, the government will probably start prosecuting the purchasers since they will have to shut down the flow at the end rather than the source. This is all the more reason to avoid buying illegally (besides the fact that it is stealing from the original producers).

True. Maybe this is because the people who sell tennis DVDs aren't copying produced product. And the market hasn't gotten big enough to be seen yet.
I have no problem buying a bootlegged DVD of a match I can't get any other way. I do have a problem with someone "pirating" an already produced DVD of, say, the Mac/Borg Wimbledon Finals.
If that starts happening a lot (and there would have to be a lot of product to copy, which there isn't) then those who do this will have to go off shore, or overseas.

 

[dufferok]

Great information from everyone! Thanks to all who replied.

J D and Chris (from TW) your replies contained the information I was inquiring about. Thank you for your time.