this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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Have you encountered VHS or Cassette piracy in the 80s? (piefed.social)
submitted 14 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by Shadow79@piefed.social to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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Like that infamous "ET" torrent in 1982 where it involved a "pirate" sneaking a huge JVC camcorder (with a VHS reel) recording the entire movie in theaters, given this was before DVD's existed (don't even ask about pirate bay, those weren't available yet). The same applies to "torrented" music, one would have a spare tape cassette recording the song played via the radio, that's how they torrented content back then if they can't afford an official copy.

Only millennials or Gen X who were kids back then would've encountered or witnessed VHS or Cassette "torrents" from either friends or family and often or not, piracy in the pre internet days was rife even before torrent sites were a thing. There are VHS "torrents" of TV shows or series (placing a camcorder which faces the TV screen with a spare reel recording the entire show (ads included), then used to fast forward upon replay.

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[–] reallyzen@lemmy.ml 7 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

My (58yo) VHS cinéphile collection was freaking extensive. Back then, as today, we didn't watch TV but I bought, and scrutinised to no end, the program & set the VCR to record. I always had blanks, 3h for long movies and 4h for 2 "normal" ones. When we moved countries, at a time when DVDs where a thing, a friend of mine asked to keep the tapes because it was so good. Every Hitchcock, every Bogart, every Kubrick, every... You name it. Series even.

Yeah quality was shit, but "tomb of the fireflies" and "princess bride" totally made to the deepest of my heart, until today and forever. At work I had "Singing in the rain" as a testing tape - each time I used it, you had everyone passing in front of the beamer stop, and watch.

Emotion trumps quality.

[–] Doubleohdonut@lemmy.ca 4 points 12 hours ago

Singing in the rain is a banger that I rewatch every now and then. Everyone should watch it, even if you're not "into" musicals - there's SO much more going on! A fun satire of hollywood using every trick in the book to get there. chef's kiss