Bringing pirated material into US

[pedroh 21]

please...

are u really asking it?

c'mon

lolol

yea.. kinda not necessary question..

[usahereicome 0]

wow,

I never expected so much of a debate....after the first few replies, my initial hesitation was confirmed that it would not be wise, and my decision was made, very simply....

Kinda like when you know that 9 X 8 is 72, but you haven't needed that figure in ages, so you ask someone just to be sure, I mean after all, you are human and can make a decision that turns out to be "wrong"...

I will say also, that the question was intended to gather information about the consequences of the action, not to receive all the judgement! In my country, piracy is not illegal, in fact, there is even a presidential decree that states all people should have equal access to the media of today, whether they are poor or rich.

In my personal case, I purchased the dvds that I really liked (some after paying to see it in the theatre) and would watch again. I especially like the fact that the movies here are dubbed in my language, in which I listen while reading English subtitles. Then I watch again listening in English, so I can reinforce my understanding of the language of my new country...so for me, personal use equates to educational use. And I am sorry, but my salary here is about $200 a month, so I can not afford to buy originals, and there is no such thing as public libraries as you lucky Americans have!! But hey, thats one of the things that makes me feel so lucky that a gringa fell head over heels in love with me, now I will gladly leave my country and my family to live with her in a country with so many advantages!!

Now, before you all jump to conclusions, my English is not so good as this letter represents! I told my fiance what to say, and she helped me to write this to you.

As well, she is helping me to understand what are the laws of USA and what I need to respect, things like this crime of violation of "intellectual property rights". We both have learned a lot in the last few days about it, and of course we rapidly came to the conclusion that its not worth the risk to bring even one copied dvd, or music, or some of the gifts of books and clothing and such that I have been given by friends and family that may be fake or copied.

So, again, thank you to everyone for this lively discussion, and helping me come to the conclusion of what is right for me regarding this topic.

Carlos

[patricks 0]

With all due respect to your sincere comment:

Please remember this response 15 months from now when you get homesick and you wish you had more things from your home country. My Vietnamese wife watches her Cds now and then. Fortunately, there are a lot of VNs products that can be purchased in America.

Seperately, I remember when I used to live abroad before the internet and I used to crave for anything American occassionally. I don't care where you're from, when you live in a foreign country, you get homesick now and then.

Finally, since you're such a good citizen, remember, the speed limit in America is usually 65mph, there's no Jay Walking and don't change lanes without using your turn signal. You need to respect the law.

Good Luck in your in new life in the states!

[damulag 26]

I think we are talking about movies and cd's that are covered under United States copyrights, I do not think that the customs officer will worry if you are bringing in native tongue movies but if you allready have MI III on dvd, well then we have a problem.

[Meriem_DZ 37]

They way I understand it, is that you can bring them for your own personal use. Not many copies of the same one, because it gives them the idea, that you are going to sell them for profit. I may be wrong. When I flew to Germany a few years back, I had a cd case full of copied cd's nothing was ever said about them in customs. I had them in my carry on bag.

"However, travelers arriving in the United States may be permitted an exemption and allowed to import one article of each type, which must accompany the person, bearing a counterfeit, confusingly similar or restricted gray market trademark, provided that the article is for personal use and is not for sale."

"In regard to copyright infringement, articles that are determined by CBP to be clearly piratical of a protected copyright, i.e., unauthorized articles that are substantially similar to a material protected by a copyright, are subject to seizure. A personal use exemption for articles, similar to that described above also applies to copyrighted articles for the personal, non-commercial use of the importer and are not for sale or distribution."

Meriem

[Collie 122]

i brought all my movies and cds that i had burned on the internet and had nary a problem. If they are in your suitcase the chances of that being looked at by a customs officer is slim to none. Now you do need to realise that the US is a different region and your dvds may not be compatable in a dvd player here. My uk dvds aren't and I can only play my burned ones on the laptop.

[damulag 26]

Why risk it on your first trip here, Many people speed and do not get caught, does that make it ok?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hello

Can anyone tell me what are the laws regarding bringing copied cds?

i have a collection of music and movies, it is for my personal use, they were bought from pirates here in my country. I would like to use them in my tv (definately not sell them!) in USA but I don't wan't to break any laws.

will i get in trouble if I bring any with me on the flight? what about sending them with my boxes and furniture? i have looked on the customs page, these items are not on the restricted items list.

i heard that you can be deported for having them, so I am nervious, and i can leave them. but then i heard that the penalty is they just get taken away....any one know what is true?

thanks in advance...

Do you seriously want your first act as a possible immigrant to be breaking the law of your new home? Can you imagine the reception you'd get come time for AOS? Technically, tho, FYI, this is an international law - you just went thru hoops to get a clean police report - c'mon! lol

Don't risk it - get rid of em

People really need to a lot more reading about this. Its not illegal to 'possess' pirated materials. For CD's anyway - there's no way for them to tell if they are 'legitimate' copies because you are legally allowed to make a copy of any CD you own for backup purposes. How many people do you think go travelling with wallets of copied CD's?

As for DVD's - its not illegal to 'own' a pirated copy of anything - what is illegal is to make and sell unauthorised copies for profit. Assuming you are not doing this - you should have no reason to worry. That said going through the airport with shoeboxes full or copied stuff probably isn't the best idea. But there's a common sense solution to that also - its what ipods, portable hard drives and laptops are for.

Edited May 20, 2006 by Fishdude

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

for another the quality of the disks is TERRIBLE (my uncle has no such qualms and he lent us a couple of movies before they even showed up in the cinema in our country, but they were hardly watchable. For another, it'll show up in the retail market in six months! If you can't wait that long to see it, there's something wrong...

That's not necessarily true. A guy at my old job in London brought in a couple of DVDr discs containing Shrek 2 and Hellboy, BEFORE they were even available on DVD in the US. That makes me think the studios have internal leaks to deal with...

Digital copies are a much different ballgame to the old analogue VHS tapes you see people flogging down the market. If they're recorded from another digital source they are almost exactly identical to the original. The bad quality ones are invariably recorded on a camcorder in a movie theatre.

Edited May 20, 2006 by Fishdude

[timelena 0]

How do you know they are pirated?

How do you know if the company you bought them from did not pay for them?

Still, in my opinion, what is permissable for US Citizens may be too bad for non-citizens going to US.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

How do you know they are pirated?

How do you know if the company you bought them from did not pay for them?

Still, in my opinion, what is permissable for US Citizens may be too bad for non-citizens going to US.

Its common sense - thousands of people travel all over the world with all kinds of ####### in their suitcases. Noone will worry about a few CDR's in a CD wallet. Its a non-issue. Really.

Of course bringing a suitcase full of the things might raise eyebrows - probably not the smartest thing to do.

[triaxiom 0]

I brought all my movies and cds that i had burned on the internet and had nary a problem. If they are in your suitcase the chances of that being looked at by a customs officer is slim to none. Now you do need to realise that the US is a different region and your dvds may not be compatable in a dvd player here. My uk dvds aren't and I can only play my burned ones on the laptop.

'Ere you go, mate.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

I brought in 200 very obviously (as in scrawled on the disc with a felt pen) Cds in 6 Cd wallets, in a seperate bag I took on as hand luggage; I really don't think it's an issue.

[camaleon 0]

are u guys still talking about it.............

IT IS ILLEGAL.

I will love to see what u gonna tell to the officer

Officer: Excuse me, these CD are yours?

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

Officer: It's software, legal sotware?

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

Officer: Can u please go thru that door, we want to check those CD's.

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

IT IS NOT WORTH IT...

c u later

Edited May 21, 2006 by camaleon

[luvaLimey 0]

Uh huh... like that would ever happen.

When I was in Malaysia for 4 months, I bought a lot of pirated stuff. Just stuck all the DVDs and CDs (music, movies, and software) in some big CD wallets and stuck them in my bags. Customs never checks your stuff unless you declare something, or unless you look really suspicious. (that's why you should always dress nicely for travel)

I honestly think some people here are over-reacting to the whole piracy thing. I've bought pirated stuff, but I've also downloaded and burned more stuff for my own use. I used to work for a software company, and while the company itself had hotlines you can call if you suspect piracy for its software, the engineers and tech guys and everyone else are running around making illegal copies of anything and everything (movies, music, software... you name it). You'd be suprised how much piracy goes on inside a software company. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for something I can get a crack or hack for.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

are u guys still talking about it.............

IT IS ILLEGAL.

I will love to see what u gonna tell to the officer

Officer: Excuse me, these CD are yours?

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

Officer: It's software, legal sotware?

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

Officer: Can u please go thru that door, we want to check those CD's.

IMMIGRANT: uhuhuhuh ahahahah uhuuhuh Yes Sir!

IT IS NOT WORTH IT...

c u later

That's the point - it ISN'T illegal to own pirated/unauthorized copies. What IS illegal is to make copies and distribute them freely or for profit. Seriously do some reading on copyright law if you don't believe me. Saying that the mere act of owning a copied CD is illegal is simply scaremongering.

Almost anyone who flies internationally will be carrying a few CD's in a CD wallet, a laptop or an ipod. Its simply hysterical to believe that they POE officer will care what is on your laptop/ipod/CD's.

In any case it's not the job of airport customs officials to enforce copyright law - they have no way of proving anyway who made copies and whether or not they are 'official' or otherwise.

This is where common sense comes in - if you LOOK like a counterfeiter clearly you'll have a problem. Which is why I say bringing in a suitcase full of copied CD's/DVD's probably isn't the smartest idea if you don't want to face difficult questions.

Edited May 21, 2006 by Fishdude