The Emergence Of The Blu-ray Recorder

The emergence of the Blu-ray Recorder is an inevitability, although it's progress has been a bit slower than expected. To date, only Panasonic have hit the UK market with their four models, the original two, and their updated versions. In the US, release of recorders has been problematic due to concerns over copyright issues regarding the copying of Blu-ray Movies. However, whilst a consideration, the electronics industry has been living with this copyright and recording problem for decades.

Phonographic records were the first medium to copied on a wide scale basis with the proliferation of Hifi systems, and their easy recording facility in the 1970s. The cassette recorder had obviously been used previously to record phonographs before, but the introduction of direct access to sound signal channels made the whole process a lot easier, and produced infinitely superior copies.

The invention of the Video recorder brought up further copyright issues regarding recording television programs. Each time a television program is shown, in the case of drama, many of the actors will be entitled to a royalty, so it is not just the production companies who lost out, but the actors themselves.

Policing of these forms of 'copyright theft' is at the present stage impossible to police. The only way could be done would be through technological advancement in terms of the broadcast, and the receiver, which even in such an event would obviously be circumvented anyway. The most likely solution (if one is ever possible), is either a per item copy fee (supported by punitive legislation for avoidance), or a license of some sort.

It is all 'political' any introduction of supportive legislation would be dependent on how much political clout representative bodies of the Phonographic and other industries would be able to muster. In the UK a move is being made against Google by the British Phonographic Industry to clamp down on file sharing sites who breach copyright law, however, a conclusion is yet to be reached.

In the scheme of things it is unlikely that any of the above will prevent the full emergence of the Blu-ray player. Panasonic have lead the way, and others are surely soon to follow. The delay in competitor models may be down to one factor. The models that Panasonic have produced are of such High Spec, that it may be very difficult for their competitors to produce models that outstrip Panasonic's in terms of either image and sound quality, or model functionality. One option may be for competitors to produce Blu-ray recorders with the same features and specs, but at lower cost, although to date no one has done so - but who knows what is going on at this present time the boardrooms of Koreas electrical giants.

One interesting twist in this tail is that of the case Panasonic's main competitor Sony. Sony are not only a world leader inn the production of electrical appliances, but under the wing of Sony Pictures, they they are also a major production force both on the big and small screens. This has created a conflict of interest, or conundrum. If Sony do produce a Blu-ray recorder, they will be giving license for copyright theft of their own intellectual property, as well as that of other media production companies.

You may say that this didn't stop Sony from bringing out cassette decks which were obviously used to record music that was released on the Sony label, although things have moved on since then and intellectual property has become a more complex issue, and that is aside from the fact that the growing proliferation of media throughout the world over the past thirty years has meant that the amounts of money potentially involved have become astronomical, and therefore the whole business has become more than a bit more 'serious'.

Which way Sony will go remains to be seen. If they have any sense they will not indulge in Canuteish behaviour and try to hold the tide back, but will jump on the wave like everybody else. The Blu-ray recorder is here to stay and although it's emergence appears to be staggered, it is slow, but sure. The electronic appliance market is development led, and to date there have been very few developments that the consumer hasn't embraced, and it is unlikely that the recorder will be an exception. The consumer will buy, so the recorders will be developed, produced and sold. End of story.