Renting Videos/DVDs

[c_hernandez32]

I had a quick question.

Legally, could I start my own Video Rental Store in my town and rent out the videos, DVDs, and videogames that I bought from Walmart, Suncoast, etc?

I read at the bottom of some DVD and it says "for Sale or Rent in the U.S. only." Does this give me permission to rent them for $4 to other people or do I have to buy licenses from each company (Warner Bros., Newline, etc...) for each movie?

[Defcon]

If you own them, I don't see why not...

[Craig Tucker]

I don't think so. I used to know someone who ran a video store, this was before DVD's it was all VHS. He had to buy special rental tapes which were a hell of a lot more money than a regular consumer tape. From what I can remember I think they were around £80 each whereas a regular tape would have been around £5. This is in the UK though, things may have changed and it may be different in your country.

[Rookie64]

You just need a Business License - you don't have to have any special permission from any companies/studios.

Yes, you can legally rent out the ones you already bought...unless it specifically tells you you can't on the box.

If you plan on doing it out of your own home, you'll first need to know if you're permited to conduct business there - certain residential areas aren't allowed to operate businesses.


You'll have to file for Tax (you can do that at your local post office) if you earn more than $7,000...otherwise, the IRS is gonna come after ya.


Look up some video distributors in your area...even do an online search.

You can get a lot of stuff new and used for a lot less than retail price.

Half.com is also a good resource.


You do pay more for certain new releases from distributors.
The price comes down after a month or so depending on how well the movie sells.


Some distributors will only sell you movies in large bulks, or with a min. number per order instead of allowing you to buy them individually.

[Will Hay]

Rental stores have to rent out rental versions, not commercial versions, and I'm guessing these cost more to buy in the first place.
Also, you might wanna check out the copyright notice again on each of your oiriginal DVD's, to forbids you to do this shit.
Will

[pyscrow]

Most copyright notices prohibit renting of DVD's or videos you have bought non comercially (ie not specifically for rental).

The way around this is to use the same business model as used by Book exchanges.

You sell the DVD or video outright to the customer, with a guaranteed buyback price, usually around 80 to 90% of your sale price. This has the added bonus that you dont have to chase anyone up if they do not return the movie!

Just like book exchanges you stick a label on your product exhibiting the sale and buyback prices, making it easy for transaction handling, and no disputes!

The only downside is that the customer has to come up with the cash initially, after that it is only the difference between the trade ins and the new movies.

Quiet a few of the porn shops in Australia use this model, quiet successfully to!

[flaninacupboard]

Quiet a few of the porn shops in Australia use this model, quiet successfully to!

And how would you know.....? :/

[Rookie64]

Rental stores have to rent out rental versions, not commercial versions, and I'm guessing these cost more to buy in the first place.
Also, you might wanna check out the copyright notice again on each of your oiriginal DVD's, to forbids you to do this shit.
Will

In the U.S., they are the same versions - there's no difference.

c_hernandez32 says he's from Texas


I used to be in the video rental business - you only need a business license.
You should get your videos through distributors though...you buy in bulk but it costs less.

[ChrisX]

I had a quick question.

Legally, could I start my own Video Rental Store in my town and rent out the videos, DVDs, and videogames that I bought from Walmart, Suncoast, etc?

I read at the bottom of some DVD and it says "for Sale or Rent in the U.S. only." Does this give me permission to rent them for $4 to other people or do I have to buy licenses from each company (Warner Bros., Newline, etc...) for each movie?

No, you need a video rental store license and you need obtain the videos/DVDs and videogames from the distributors on a license to lease them.

This is the legal way and you can't use your own DVDs for profit.

[BJ_M]

there is a license fee for dvd/vhs for rent ... sometimes its collected on a pre use and sometimes its a flat rate ..



if you are clerk in a rental store you may not even know about it ... and if you don't pay it you are breaking the law and subject to some pretty bad shit ..

[Solarjetman]

According to this guy PG1607 over here he says you could rent them out. His Bio claims he is a general civil litigation lawyer in California.

And This Article about it says the following...
About the only licenses you'll need will be a local business license plus whatever state or city sales tax permits are required in your area. Check with your city and county clerks for information in these areas.

I would not doubt that the UK has different laws than the USA. But if you do decide to start your own, I would ask a lawyer about it first.

[BJ_M]

According to this guy PG1607 over here he says you could rent them out. His Bio claims he is a general civil litigation lawyer in California.

And This Article about it says the following...
About the only licenses you'll need will be a local business license plus whatever state or city sales tax permits are required in your area. Check with your city and county clerks for information in these areas.

I would not doubt that the UK has different laws than the USA. But if you do decide to start your own, I would ask a lawyer about it first.

no where does he discuss the lic agreement ...

if you would like i can put you in touch with our lawers .. believe me, there are fee's for most movies -- it's one of our main sources of bling bling


Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) represents over 60 producers and distributors, including such studios as Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros., Scholastic Entertainment, McGraw-Hill, Sony Pictures Classics, Tommy Nelson, and World Almanac, and provides an Umbrella LicenseSM. Contact MPLC directly with any questions (including license fee quote requests) at phone number 800-462-8855 (or 310-822-8855), or via e-mail to info@mplc.com. See the web site of the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) at {http://www.mplc.com}, which includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at {http://www.mplc.com/qa.html} as well as an explanation of the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) Umbrella LicenseSM at {http://www.mplc.com/umbrel.html}.

Movie Licensing USA is a licensing agent for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, United Artists and various other independent studios, and provides the Movie Copyright Compliance Site License. Find out more at the web site of Movie Licensing USA at {http://www.movlic.com}. Send all e-mail to Mail@movlic.com. There are separate telephone numbers for schools and public libraries:

[adam]

Most copyright language on DVDs and VHS tapes prohibits unauthorized rental, lease, or lending. If you look up these terms under most country's copyright laws (definitely US) it basically just means you are making money through the transaction. You can't do it without express authorization, which you get through a special license. Renting out your own movies without a license to do so is most definitely illegal in the United States.

[jacknjt]

i dont know anything but i know for sure that the movie industry in the usa wants money and money and no matter what if u want to use anything from them then you got to pay, nothin is free. they are blood sucker.

[Will Hay]

In the U.S., they are the same versions - there's no difference.

c_hernandez32 says he's from Texas

Yes, okay, sure, but like I already said....

Also, you might wanna check out the copyright notice again on each of your original DVD's, it forbids you to do this shit.

Will Hay

[c_hernandez32]

I thought that you would need to buy a special license. I've only seen a couple of DVD's that say "for rent or sale in U.S. only."

jacknt is right, I bet that if the movie industry had its way, we would have to pay for each time we watched a movie, like the CC Divx system.

[ChrisX]

I thought that you would need to buy a special license. I've only seen a couple of DVD's that say "for rent or sale in U.S. only."

I think you are confused with this, "for rent or sale in U.S. only." This still doesn't give you the right to lease your own DVDs to the public.

The message on the DVD applies to the boundaries of DVD distribution, "for rent or sale” as only legally available in your own country as region 1.

This is just a general warning message on copyright, just a notice. This is all.

You still have to get a business and movie rental license.

I know this will cost you money and you can’t get a right to lease the movies for nothing.

[WishMaker]

Before DVD's were in, I used to own a video store in a small
town, here in Florida.

In 1997, I only needed my business license, which you proudly
hang on your wall, and that's it. (Besides keeping your taxes
straight.)

I bought from just about everyone. The distrubuter's, (the full
$80.00 for a new, not sell thru, or straight to video, new release.)

Then you could buy, from differing distributer's, Titles that were
a little older (2 - 3 weeks on average) for around $50.00 or so.

I also bought older releases from a "free lance" guy right out of his
truck. I also didn't have a problem raiding the previously pre-vied
bin at the Blockbuster chain in the city. They used to take their
new releases down quite early back then. Wal-Mart for sell thru's
was great too.

PS: To get the stickers from other video stores off, the best way
I did it was to blow dry and pull. What little sticky stuff was left, I sprayed and rubbed a little WD-40 on then wiped with a cloth.

A little more than you needed to know, I'll bet

[Rookie64]

Before DVD's were in, I used to own a video store in a small
town, here in Florida.

In 1997, I only needed my business license, which you proudly
hang on your wall, and that's it. (Besides keeping your taxes
straight.)

I bought from just about everyone. The distrubuter's, (the full
$80.00 for a new, not sell thru, or straight to video, new release.)

Then you could buy, from differing distributer's, Titles that were
a little older (2 - 3 weeks on average) for around $50.00 or so.

I also bought older releases from a "free lance" guy right out of his
truck. I also didn't have a problem raiding the previously pre-vied
bin at the Blockbuster chain in the city. They used to take their
new releases down quite early back then. Wal-Mart for sell thru's
was great too.

PS: To get the stickers from other video stores off, the best way
I did it was to blow dry and pull. What little sticky stuff was left, I sprayed and rubbed a little WD-40 on then wiped with a cloth.

A little more than you needed to know, I'll bet

A bit similar in my situation - there were many distributors for stores that would sell used rentals from other stores all over the country.

One license was all that was required. There was nothing illegal about it whatsoever.

That was late '80s to mid '90s...don't know if the laws have changed since then or if they vary from state to state.