A terminal apparatus comprising an insertion hole into which to insert a
copyright-compliant first memory card and a copyright-noncompliant second
memory card. The first and the second memory cards are substantially the
same in shape. If the copyright-noncompliant second memory card is
inserted preparatory to recording copyright-protected contents, the
copyright-protected contents are recorded temporarily to the second
memory card. When the copyright-compliant first memory card is later
inserted, the recorded copyright-protected contents are transferred from
the second memory card to the inserted first memory card. If the
copyright-compliant first memory card is inserted preparatory to
recording copyright-unprotected contents, the copyright-unprotected
contents are recorded temporarily to the first memory card so that when
the copyright-noncompliant second memory card is later inserted, the
recorded copyright-unprotected contents are transferred from the first
memory card to the inserted second memory card. Thus the desired contents
are recorded unfailingly regardless of an inadvertent insertion by users
of a memory card which is apparently the same in shape but different in
type of copyright compliance.