VHS tapes to DVDs

[JamesAnderson]

All but a very few of the old VHS tapes have now been transferred over to DVD. The last few items are out or nearly out based on what I've seen at Distribution Services stores here in Utah. There are a couple left, such as the two FHE videotapes, and a couple of the collections based on much older video series (they could repackage the content in another product though), but those are very few. So as of now, anything the vast majority of members would use is now on DVD.

I also think that since 2004, everything new has been produced only in the DVD format. The last new VHS tape I saw was one that was sent to bishops and shown only to ward councils in about that time frame. As it is, pre-recorded VHS tapes are no longer printed in the US, they may still be in a few other areas, although one can get blank tape, that is also slowly disappearing as well.

[MorettiDP]

I believe only old productions from Bonneville and BYU aren't available in DVD in USA now.

But, for me, it's still frustrating. I can't know why, but the majority of DVDs released at USA aren't sold by Distribution Services in Brazil and in other international areas. I can understand English a bit, and wonder to have access to all these DVDs, stay it in Portuguese or in English, but I can't find a way to purchase without the high costs of purchase in Brazil from LDSCatalog.com or DeseretBook.com, for exemple. If this new system will give us access for download and purchase movies in English inside and outside USA/Canada, I will be so happy, and my Church DVDs collection too.

[allenjblodgett]

Click here for a link to purchase a copy of the DVD.

[omega0401-p40]

Click here for a link to purchase a copy of the DVD.

Thank you Allen for letting us know that this disc is now available. I ordered the Family Home Evening DVD and my copy arrived today. Sure enough the "Temples are for Eternal Covenants" was one of the 40 videos on the disc. I don't believe this was available on LDS Catalogs when I was searching for it back in September.

This makes it much easier to share with members in their homes when we give our lessons.

[dennisn]

Many problems are just opportunities seen backwards.
I sense a commercial opportunity here. While the church may not have the time or resources to do this itself, I suggest that an LDS entrepreneur could, with a minimal investment start a business to: (1) buy a good VHS copy of a church video, (2) professionally convert it to an video file in .iso or .mpg format, (3) offer the file for download to interested parties, (4) collect and pay appropriate state sales taxes, and royalties to Intellectual Reserve, Inc., who owns the copyright. (5) for an extra charge, provide a physical DVD. For most people, the downloadable file should be sufficient, as there exist many commercial and freeware software packages to play .iso and .img files on a computer display, as well as to burn a .iso file to a DVD. There are, of course, some legal and practical matters that would need to be dealt with, but nothing that a good lawyer could not resolve in short order. I really see no reason why Intellectual Reserve would object, as it would require no money and minimal resources on their part. Most of the cost would be on the front end - obtaining and converting the DVD's, and setting up the legal agreements. Downloading a file has negligible cost, there are many free shopping cart solutions available, and website hosting can be had for $10 a month or so.

[jdlessley]

I sense a commercial opportunity here.

Moderator note: Any further discussions about commercial endeavors will have to end with your post. These forums are restricted from engaging in any commercial messages, promotions, or similar solicitations. Please review the Code of Conduct.

[dennisn]

Sorry about that. If you check the complete post, I'm not trying to sell anything or get anybody to send me money or setup a business with me. Just brief comment about an idea that popped into my head. I'll try to be more careful in the future. Thx.