videomatica.ca

[YKdvd]

If I remember correctly, the email address for the Spider Robinson account was the one used on the official SR website, so that seemed legit, and he mentioned he was just here to put in a good word for Videomatica. I'm guessing that Videomatica would be that sort of long-established artsy inventory video store that would have a lot happy customers, which might spill over to the online.

I'm not sure why all the fuss about the "ripper" comment - renting DVDs is legal, and while I'm no lawyer but I can't imagine a throwaway comment would even serve as the basis for some sort of nuisance suit given the underlying business is legit. Perhaps not in the best of taste, but nothing worse. Any copying/lawbreaking is the responsibility of the renter. Any Videomatica customers know if there is a boilerplate anywhere about illegal copying once you log in? Most sites have one but I couldn't find any sort of "terms and conditions" while wandering around.

It looks like they are now accepting customers from all across Canada - I should probably go to the trouble of adding them to my inventory chart. Their site is a little weird for my purposes, but I may be able to adapt the code I used for Premieres.

[DoubleDownAgain]

That's why I posted it in the first place, because it goes against any other rental company I've seen. I personally could care less if they endorse it or not, I just was very surprised that they would put that on their website.

[DoubleDownAgain]

I also don't get the "useless forum" bit, because I'm not on the Videomatica bandwagon? If their rates were more reasonable I'd consider them. But there is no way they could come close to matching the price per disc I get from Zip. I am also pretty happy of late with the selection as well as the service from Zip. They do still have hiccups here and there but in my experience the customer service has vastly improved.

This forum is a great place to discuss the different companies in Canada, if you have a problem with one of them there is usually someone around that has information that could help.

[exile183]

Well, you know what? Copying a DVD is actually legal, in Canada.

Not quite - and certainly not in this context.

According to the Copyright Act, you *CAN* borrow (or rent) an audio CD, make your own copy, return the original to whoever owns it, and continue using the burned CD. (Important note: *YOU*, the borrower, must do the copying. If your friend buys the latest Prince CD and you want a copy, it's legal if he lends it to you and *YOU* copy it - but it's not legal if he makes a copy and gives it to you. Weird, huh?)

You may not transfer the copy you made to someone else (give away or sell).

None of this applies to DVD's. I repeat, DVD's are not covered.

Now, there is a whole ton of case law that essentially states that if you have PURCHASED a copy of a movie (or audio CD, or cassette, or LP, or whatever), you may:

1) Back it up, making reasonable numbers of copies for your OWN use. IE: you can buy a CD, make a copy of it, and take the copy with you in the car - leaving the original safe and sound at home.

2) Transfer it to another medium. This means ripping your own CD's to MP3 and putting them on your MP3 player is perfectly legal. Similarly, you can transfer your old VHS tapes to DVD.

In neither case are you allowed to transfer the copies independently. In fact, if you ever give away or sell the original, you must either destroy the copies you made, or transfer them WITH the originals.

None of this allows you to rent DVD's from Zip or Cinemail or whoever, rip them to your hard drive, burn 'em to blanks, and mail back the originals. Under both the Copyright Act and under existing case law, this is indeed illegal.

If you get caught.

[ZipMemberinToronto]

Derek:

The pricing and the shipping times from Vancouver would be a issue for those of us in Central Canada.

I could never determine from those on this forum who are or were with them, do they have any return features (ie ZipReturn, QuickReturn) that Zip & Cinemail have to alleviate that?

ZipMemberinToronto