Acquiring stolen work is just wrong

I work for one of the big three television networks, and I take an active interest in keeping its history [“A Dust-Up Over Old TV Tapes,” June 10]. When I went looking for some of our old shows, I was shocked at the number of valuable historic items that had disappeared from our libraries. After some investigating, I learned a now ex-employee of the company was stealing from the vaults, providing collectors with one-of-a-kind original kinescopes. Every collector I called about acquiring a copy of one of our lost programs was more than happy to sell me one. If I mentioned I was with the network, [the] tone changed to one of suspicion.

While the legality of acquiring material through “dumpster diving” may be hazy, acquiring material through outright theft isn’t. The fact collectors themselves don’t do the actual stealing is irrelevant. They are in possession of many properties that are, I’m certain, not theirs to have. The story makes passing reference to the company “insiders who ‘borrowed’ footage from their own collections to rescue early television from oblivion.” This suggests “insiders” were doing something laudable rather than illegal. Removing material from climate-controlled storage to someone’s damp basement isn’t my idea of a rescue.

JIM HERGENRATHER

Los Angeles