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W(B)L 51-7406
CONFIDENTIAL
set, RTV would save those subscribers
who wish to receive both channels the
expense of having two receiving sets.
This could have an appreciable adverse
effect on the use of wireless receivers
(and thus on the interests of TVB)
whilst it would at the same time enhance
the value of RTV's service and its
revenue from subscribers.
26. These disadvantages for TVB are on
their own perhaps not very strong
arguments for extending copyright
protection to its programmes. The
main argument is surely that by
allowing RTV a free hand to relay TVB's programmes, without consent or payment, and so to bring both channels into the
homes of viewers through a single
receiving set, a strong commercial
advantage has been placed in RTV's
hands vis-a-vis its competitor. Its
commercial position is strengthened in
two ways:-
(a) the advantages of the wired
system have been increased and
the system should be in greater
demand;
(b) to the extent that this is so,
RTV's own programme is enabled
to enter more homes and should
attract more advertising revenue.
If RTV were merely a purveyor of other
companies' programmes (as it is in the UK)
there could be no objection to its free
use of TVB programmes; its profits
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