While Betamax is a fair bit older than 30, it was originally produced in Japan in 1975, it was not declared as fully legal until 1984. So why the delay?
Funnily enough as soon as the movie industry got wind of the fact that it could be used to *gasp* record movies screened on TV, or even copy tapes, they pretty much immediately took legal action to stop production and distribution of this pirating powerhouse!
On the 17th January 1984 the US Supreme Court took a different view and declared that the machine was legal and people could use it for recording of shows and movies for personal use which, at the time, was to be the death of Hollywood.
Well, here we are 30 years later with much more sophisticated methods that the old Betamax (which conceded defeat to the VHS format a scant 4 years after the court decision, even though it's last gasp occurred when production of Beta units ceased in 2002) and as far as I can tell Hollywood is still going strong and posting record profits.
What we see here is the birth of "Fair Use" provisions for personal use that allows you (yes, you as well) to record and time shift TV shows and even copy content you own to different formats, as long as you hang on to the original. Funnily enough this concept is not very popular with content owners who would much prefer you to buy the same thing multiple times!
So let's all take a moment to pay tribute this clunky, overlarge piece of tech for it's continued legacy. Betamax, we salute you.
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