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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Continued

National Video Clearinghouse, Inc., The Video

Source Book (3d ed. 1981).

Variety, Jan. 6, 1982

Variety, March 10, 1982

THE VIDEO RETAILER, March/April 1982

Page

4

6

4, 13

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AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

I

THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS GROUP REPRE-
SENTS SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE COMPANIES
OFFERING VIDEO TAPE RECORDERS FOR SALE
IN THE UNITED STATES

This brief is submitted by the Consumer Electronics Group of the Electronic Industries Association ("EIA/ CEG") with the written consent of all parties on file with the Clerk of this Court. EIA/CEG is a 56-year-old trade association with headquarters in Washington, D.C. Its members include almost all of the domestic manufacturers of television receivers and nearly all foreignowned or affiliated manufacturers having facilities in the

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United States. Almost all companies that sell video tape recorders ("VTRS") at the manufacturer's level in the United States are members of EIA/CEG.1

This amicus curiae brief is submitted pursuant to authorization by the Board of Directors of EIA/CEG. The vital interests of the television receiver and VTR industry are at stake in these proceedings, and as a representative of nearly all VTR manufacturers and sellers of the product at the manufacturer's level in this country, EIA/ CEG has a crucial interest in supporting the Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed by Sony Corporation of America, et al.

II

THE VIDEO TAPE RECORDER HAS MANY USES

The VTR is a multipurpose consumer electronic device which has revolutionized the concept of home entertainment. The VTR can be used for many purposes including time shifting, playing of prerecorded programming, and recording of and watching home movies.

A. Time Shifting

"Time shifting" reflects the advantage offered to the consumer from the VTR's ability to shift in time a television program. By time shifting, a VTR owner who is not at home can record programs for later viewing. A VTR user can also time shift by recording one program while watching another.

1 They are as follows: General Electric Company; Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (Panasonic and Quasar); N.A.P. Consumer Electronics Corporation (Magnavox, Philco and Sylvania); RCA Corporation, Consumer Electronics Division; Sansui Electronics Corporation; Sanyo Manufacturing Corporation, Sory Corporation of America; Toshiba America, Inc.; U.S. JVC Corporation; Zenith Radio Corporation. Though not members of EIA/CEG, Hitachi Sales Corporation and Sharp Electronics Corporation have each given their full support to the position taken here by EIA/CEG.

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Without question, the primary use of the VTR is time shifting. Petitioner Sony's survey found that 95 percent of VTR owners use their VTR primarily to view television programs that they could not otherwise have watched Pet. App. at 48). Even respondent MCA's survey found that 75.4 percent of all VTR owners use their machine to record for time shifting half or most of the time Pet. App. at 47-48).

B. Home Movies

Another, increasingly popular, use of the VTR is to make original movies. By using a video camera, a VTR owner can inexpensively record on blank video tape. Indeed, it is over 50 times more costly to record home movies using eight millimeter film than it is to record the same amount of time on video tape. Home movies recorded on video tape can also be played back immediately through a VTR and shown on a television screen, whereas traditional home movies require the time to develop the movie and the inconvenience of setting up a projector and screen."

2 References to "Pet. App." are to the Appendix of Petitioner Sony Corporation of America filed with its Petition for Writ of Certiorari.

3 Sce, e.g., Hughey, Sales of Home-Movie Equipment Falling as Firms Abandon Market, Video Grows, Wall St. J., March 17, 1982, at 29 col. 4.

4 “A reusable videotape lasting two hours or more costs between $12 and $18, compared with about $10, including developing, for a 31⁄2 minute role of eight millimeter movie film." Id.

5 Id. Given the advantages of home video movies, it is unsurprising that January and February 1982 sales of color video cameras jumped more than 78 percent over January and February 1981 sales. Consumer Electronics Daily, March 15, 1982, p. 2.

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C. Prerecorded Tapes

VTRs are also used extensively to play prerecorded programming. Over 35,000 prerecorded video programs are currently available. By allowing VTR users to watch prerecorded programming in the privacy of their homes, the VTR has expanded consumer home viewing alternatives and created a large market for entertainment programming. It has also created an enormous market for producers and users of educational, instructional and business oriented programming.

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D. Other Uses

The VTR is expected to become an essential component of at least one American manufacturer's projection television system. In the future, the VTR is also likely to serve an essential role in the new electronics media by storing and displaying teletext, videotext, home computer graphics and electronic photography."

These uses of the VTR, which do not even arguably infringe on anyone's copyright, underscore the tremendous home entertainment breakthrough the VTR has bestowed upon consumers.

6 See, e.g., Variety, Mar. 10, 1982, pp. 35-36.

7 National Video Clearinghouse, Inc., The Video Source Book (3d ed. 1981).

8 Bulkeley, Inventor Kloss Trying for the Fourth Time to Turn His Ideas Into a Healthy Business, Wall St. J., March 16, 1982, at 31 col. 4.

9 Teletext is a new television broadcast service which will require a special decoder for reception, videotext is an analogous service that transmits data over telephone lines for display or television receivers, and electronic photography stores an "image" without the use of film or videotape which can be stored and displayed using a VTR. The first two services are in commercial us abroad and will soon be in commercial use here. Electronic photography/VTR usage is at the prototype stage.

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