OFFICIAL: Importing DVDs is illegal
 

According to:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2003x/mpaa.jpg

MPPA www.respectcopyrights.org

People should post all their DVDs immediately to the MPPA at:

I'm A World Wide Criminal Importer DVD Mastermind
15503 Ventura Blvd.
Encino,
California 91436



It's OK to export/import weapons of mass destruction though. So it's not all bad news.

I do note that at least the MPAA carefully chose its words to avoid using the term "illegal" or "unlawful." The MPAA states that "parallel imports" as they call it is merely "unauthorized" which is entirely true. However, there's a world of difference between that which is unauthorized and that which is illegal.

if the american studios can get it right everytime, nobody here would be importing dvds

I got the UK Melody Time cause the US version is all censored! Oh I feel so guilty!!

SCREW the mpaa

From the U.S. Copyright Act:

17 USC § 602: Infringing importation of copies or phonorecords

(a) Importation into the United States, without the authority of the owner of copyright under this title, of copies or phonorecords of a work that have been acquired outside the United States is an infringement of the exclusive right to distribute copies or phonorecords under section 106, actionable under section 501.

This subsection does not apply to—
(1) importation of copies or phonorecords under the authority or for the use of the Government of the United States or of any State or political subdivision of a State, but not including copies or phonorecords for use in schools, or copies of any audiovisual work imported for purposes other than archival use;
(2) importation, for the private use of the importer and not for distribution, by any person with respect to no more than one copy or phonorecord of any one work at any one time, or by any person arriving from outside the United States with respect to copies or phonorecords forming part of such person’s personal baggage; or
(3) importation by or for an organization operated for scholarly, educational, or religious purposes and not for private gain, with respect to no more than one copy of an audiovisual work solely for its archival purposes, and no more than five copies or phonorecords of any other work for its library lending or archival purposes, unless the importation of such copies or phonorecords is part of an activity consisting of systematic reproduction or distribution, engaged in by such organization in violation of the provisions of section 108 (g)(2).

DJ

dvdtalk forum is turning into legal talk forum.

the website is kinda lame tho. but nice links.

so, from the us code, it *is* ok to import? i'm not sure if that is relevant to illegally made copies made by unauthorized people or copies legally distributed bythe copyright holder brought back into the US.

Marry a Canadian.. it's legal here EH!

Yes, if you're the government, if you're doing it for non-profit educational/religious purposes, or if you're importing no more than one copy of any given film at one time strictly for personal use (not for resale). If you're importing multiples copies of films for the purpose of reselling them, you are committing copyright infringement.

Both. As laid out by the House of Representatives Report on the matter from the time (No. 94–1476): "Section 602...deals with two separate situations: importation of “piratical” articles (that is, copies or phonorecords made without any authorization of the copyright owner), and unauthorized importation of copies or phonorecords that were lawfully made. The general approach of section 602 is to make unauthorized importation an act of infringement in both cases...."

DJ

so it's ok to import discs just as long as they are for private use and not for distribution/sales?

Yes, so long as you don't import more than one copy of any given film at any given time. You're also allowed to import whatever you like (again, for personal use only) so long as it is part of your "personal baggage" when you arrive in the U.S. from overseas.

DJ

djtoell - sweet. you're so informed :)

i guess it doesn't matter to me anyway. as much as i want to watch battle royale, i just dont want to put the effort into understanding how regions affect me and my dvd player.

parallel import is a notion developed by dealers with a contract, in their eyes a parallel importer is always unauthorized.
but authorization is one thing, the law is another
it would be interesting to have numbers of DVD's going through both sides of the Atlantic, I suspect that the Studios are making big bucks letting sell R1 DVD's to Europeans and Asians, viceversa should be true too.

In the "Would you bust someone selling copied DVDs" thread, someone asked just what the MPAA was doing that was 'stealing from us'. Ladies and Gents, I give you exhibit A!

So I think I feel a paradigm shift in my feelings about copying discs coming on. As long as they keep trying to pull this shit, I'll download music guilt free and I'll copy movies guilt free. Fuck the studios. Fuck them up their stupid asses.

I know in some countries, the normal Joe Bloggs can order DVDs from overseas. However its illegal for a retail or rental store to get them in. There concerns are that it will fuck up the theatre revenues etc. In my opinion, it should be allowed and the theatres should be made better or cheaper to entice customers in. As usual the paying customer is punished.

hm, i work at a video store that rents and sells imports from all over and has for many years, and they have had no apparent problems.

exactly

This doesn't count in Canada or the UK I assume. This is US only it seems. Oh well, I don't buy DVDs unless I see em in stores. I'm too lazy, lol..

Its probably for the R4 countries as theatre releases can be quite far behind.

The sceen above makes me think that they are targeting those that are taking R1 DVDs and importing them. After all, why would (or should) the MPAA care if I am importing a foreign film that is only available on another region. Other than the fact that perhaps Miramax wants to buy the rights and then fuck it up.

I think that's a little too simplistic, so that's not always the case.
There are many, many movies released around the world that would have such limited appeal in the U.S. that releasing them here would probably be financially suicidal.

agreed. off the top of my head, some of my recent purchases were for 2046, oldboy, and spaced -- i doubt we will hear of a potential R1 release for any of these titles any time soon.

But I know of at least 2 good versions of BR that are NTSC and Region 0, that your player could play just fine. :)


I already know that importing DVDs from other countries for my own use is perfectly legal. But even if it wasn't, I would sure do it anyway.


With that ad, I'm sure that the MPAA is more concerned about non-Region 1 folks importing R1 discs. They don't care about us in R1 importing other region discs (well, maybe Miramax cares, but screw them, it's their own fault :) )

I think it's pretty clear they are really aiming at downloaders, not importers. Media companies and industries have always liked these ambiguous warnings that don't actually affect over 90% of their consumers just to confuse and frighten us. Shouldn't work on too many visiting this forum.

I think it's interesting that their one non-Flash link is to the MPAA, but the popup text for it says Warner Bros. Hmm, don't seem to need to even try to figure out who is behind that site.

Wrong. First off, was it the MPAA that initiated this policy? I'm not quite sure, but anyhow, stealing (per dictionary.com) is: To take (the property of another) without right or permission. To the best of my knowledge, disallowing importation of products is not stealing them.

mpaa can kiss my ass :p