TV License loop hole?

needaspirin

Everyone who uses (or installs with the intention to use) a television set, video recorder or computer, which is capable of receiving authorised broadcast programmes (that is, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, cable television or Sky TV), needs a television licence. A licence allows the person named on it and any member of her/his household to use one or more television sets, a TV-enabled computer or a video recorder.

A person will need a separate licence for a television set or video recorder which s/he uses at another address on a temporary basis, for example, at weekends or during holidays.

A television licence is not needed if the TV set cannot receive television programmes and is only used for closed circuit monitoring, for watching pre-recorded videos or as a computer monitor. However, the television set and/or video recorder must be incapable of receiving all authorised broadcast programmes. This could be effected, for example, by making sure that neither the television set nor the video recorder were tuned in to any channels and ensuring that they are not connected to an aerial.

A full-time student living away from home in a hall of residence will normally require a television licence for a television in her/his room. The only exception is where the student uses only a battery-operated portable television set (this is defined as a television set which can be operated only by batteries wholly contained within the set) and the student's parent(s) have a television licence (if the student's television set is a colour set, the parent(s) must have a colour licence) and the student's permanent residence is the same address as her/his parent(s).
If the student has a video recorder, s/he will need her/his own colour television licence, regardless of the type of television set s/he has.