The Betamax Case: When the VCR Was Almost Banned...

If you grew up during the 80s, you probably had a collection of VHS tapes. From new movie releases to your tapes with all your favorite TV shows or music videos, home video was a cornerstone of our entertainment. And all of that almost never happened...

If things had gone differently, home recording would have been illegal and the VCR as we know it may have been banned for good. This is the story of the Betamax Case, which pitted the movie studios against Sony and the new machine the studios saw as violating copyright laws.

It's the story that goes back to the early days of the VCR, back-and-forth legal decisions, and then a drawn-out case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. As 1984 began, the future of our home entertainment hung in the balance, but an unexpected witness came in to help save the day for the VCR...

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