Very quick question- someone asked me to take a VHS tape that they have of a TV show, edit out the commercials, and put it on DVD. Is that legal? Thanks!
I'm not sure where you are, but in the USA timeshifting is legal for personal use. As long as you and the client aren't marketing it i think this usage could be considered timeshifting.
If that “someone” is a friend and you are doing it for free then there might not be a legal issue (but only a lawyer can tell you for sure). If any money is exchanging hands then I would definitely ask a lawyer.
While time shifting is legal for your own private use, if the TV show is available on DVD and by you making a DVD copy for a friend they did not buy the DVD, then you could be sued for the lost of the sale (highly unlikely but legally plausible). All of this is pure speculation as I am not a lawyer, but I can see where the legality of this could be questionable if the material being copied is copyrighted. As soon as a second person that is not a family member gets involved, the legal issues get sticky.
Bottom line: You won’t get an answer to a legal question on a technical forum (unless of course the poster is a lawyer in their field of copyrights) ;-)