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From: doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee)
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Re: Why are prerecorded tapes so ?!$# expensive ?
Message-ID: <548@terak.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-May-85 12:00:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: terak.548
Posted: Tue May 14 12:00:33 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 16-May-85 21:38:22 EDT
References: <2003@iddic.UUCP>
Organization: Terak Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Lines: 16

> The studios have always been irked that,
> by law, you are free to do what you want with a tape (except copy it)-- like
> renting it to people.

I don't have any special "inside info", but it seems to me that the
studios tolerate the video rental stores because those stores form a
guaranteed market.  A studio can release a movie that had absolutely
terrible box-office revenues, and still be guaranteed of selling a
million copies of the video tape, one to each rental store (sometimes
two, 1 VHS and 1 Beta).  Sort of covers their bets on the stinkers, at
the cost of some lost revenue on the winners (which they aren't *forced*
to make available on tape until they're darn good and ready, e.g. the
Star Wars trilogy).
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
               ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp