Home video
The
home video business distributes
films,
telemovies and
television series in the form of
videos in various formats to the public. These are either bought or rented, then watched privately from the comfort of home by consumers. Most theatrically released films are now released on
DVD, replacing the largely obsolete
VHS medium. The
VCD format remains popular in Asia, though DVDs are gradually gaining popularity.
Prior to the advent of home video in the late 1970s, most feature films were inaccessible after their theatrical runs, only viewable in re-releases and television broadcasts. Home video release usually follows five or six months after the theatrical release, although recently more films have been arriving on video after three or four months. A time period is often allowed to elapse between the end of theatrical release and the DVD/VHS release, as an effort to discourage
piracy, or at least minimize the effect of piracy on the profitability of the theatrical release.
Many TV programs are now also available in complete seasons on DVD. It has become popular for defunct TV shows to be released to DVD one season a time every few months, and active shows to be released on DVD after the end of each season. Prior to the television DVDs, most television shows were only viewable in
syndication.
These copyrighted movies and programs have legal restrictions on them preventing them from (amongst other things) being shown in public venues, shown to other people for money, or copied for other than
fair use purposes (although even this is questionable now: see below).
There is great controversy about recent attempts to increase protections for rights owners using technical means such as
Macrovision and
CSS, and by the enactment of laws such as the
DMCA, at the expense of consumers' fair use rights.
Major
United States players in the home video business include
Blockbuster Video and
Netflix.
*
List of years in home video*
Videocassette recorder*
Copyright law*
Rental shop
