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The home video business distributes films, telemovies and television series in the form of videos in various formats to the public. These are either bought or rented, then watched privately from the comfort of home by consumers. Most theatrically released films are now released on DVD-Video, replacing the largely obsolete VHS (Video Home System) medium. The VCD format remains popular in Asia, though DVDs are gradually gaining popularity.
Prior to the advent of home video in the late 1970s, most feature films were inaccessible after their theatrical runs, only viewable in re-releases and television broadcasts. Home video release usually follows five or six months after the theatrical release, although recently more films have been arriving on video after three or four months. A time period is often allowed to elapse between the end of theatrical release and the DVD/VHS release, as an effort to discourage piracy, or at least minimize the effect of piracy on the profitability of the theatrical release.
Many TV programs are now also available in complete seasons on DVD. It has become popular for defunct TV shows to be released to DVD one season a time every few months, and active shows to be released on DVD after the end of each season. Prior to the television DVDs, most television shows were only viewable in syndication.
These copyrighted movies and programs have legal restrictions on them preventing them from (amongst other things) being shown in public venues, shown to other people for money, or copied for other than fair use purposes (although even this is questionable now: see below).
There is great controversy about recent attempts to increase protections for rights owners using technical means such as Macrovision and CSS, and by the enactment of laws such as the DMCA, at the expense of consumers' fair use rights.
Major United States players in the home video business include Blockbuster Video and Netflix.
The following companies are some of the notable organizations involved the business of producing and marketing pre-recorded cassettes and discs of various formats.
Magnum Video (no relation to the low-budget B-movie label now owned by Lions Gate)
Nordic Video
Delta Video
UGC Video
Fil-à-Film
New Family Video
TF1 Video
Carrére Video
Sunrise
Initial Home Video
Mondial Home Video
Régie Cassette Video
Challenge Video Productions
Kiddinx Video
RTL Video
VPS Video Programm Service
AGM Home Video
Hellas Kosmos Video
Hi-Tech Video
Original Video
Video Acropolis
Video City International
Videosonic (one of the biggest Greek home video companies, started in the mid-1980s)
The Netherlands
Converge Video (1980s)
Video Classics
Video Screen
Eagle 6 Video
Bridge Entertainment DVD
Sweden
Baroness VideoVision
International Promotions, Inc.
PRT Elektronik
Trix Videofilmer
Video Invest
Videce Videocentralen
Palace Video (most likely unrelated to the Australian company of the same name)
DD Video
After the passage of the Video Recordings (Labelling) Act of 1985 in the United Kingdom, videotapes and other video recordings without a certification symbol from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) on their covers - or on the tapes themselves - were no longer allowed to be sold or displayed by rental shops. These tapes are called "Pre-Certs" (e.g, Pre-certification tapes). Recently these tapes have generated a cult following, due to their collectability.