[mythtv] [mythtv-commits] Ticket #5164: Mythmovies google movies grabber

[Stuart Morgan]

On Monday 07 April 2008 11:40:21 Robin Gilks wrote:
> *I'm* using them as if I'd accessed the webpage 
> with my browser for my own use.

No you are not and there is the problem for most source websites, they derive 
income from people clicking on adverts or booking tickets through their site 
after choosing a cinema/film. If we scape the data from pages then we bypass 
their revenue making mechanisms, they pay to serve us the information without 
the possibility of making any return.

You can argue whether the sites TOS makes sense, but most of the time they 
prohibit the use of scrapers or any re-use of the data and we have to abide 
by their rules.

As far as whether MythTV or the user is doing the scraping, I can't say 
legally which is considered to be true. MythTV would be directly facilitating 
the theft of copyrighted material and that brings the kind of reputation and 
hassle we wish to avoid.

The question of whether it's theft at all to use this information for personal 
use is pretty clear and I think copyright law around the world agrees on this 
issue. You rent a DVD and copy it for personal use - theft. You borrow a book 
from the library and copy the whole thing - theft. A webpage is no different 
and though your browser may cache a copy for speed reasons, it is expected 
that the cache is temporary and that the page remains unmodified.

-- 
Stuart Morgan