andrel wrote:
> You could be right, but my guess is that even if pirated DVD's are not 
> illegal in China (which I doubt)

What makes you think they're pirated?

> you still cannot import them into the US. 

That's a different thing than copyright violation, tho. :-)

> importing pirated movies may be handled the same. IANAL though.

Again, whoever tries to confiscate them or whatever would first have to 
prove that the manufacturer in China didn't have a license to copy them in 
the first place. (Of course, you could confiscate on suspicion, but that's 
just abuse of power.)

>> Copyright law (in the USA at least) prevents you from copying things 
>> without permission. 
> 
> I think the main discussion is: can you legally own pirated copies?

It wouldn't be copyright law that prevents it, is my point. There are laws 
against theft of services, and against taking possession of stolen goods 
(with various penalties depending on whether you knew they were stolen), but 
AFAIK there's no law against owning a copy of something that the seller 
shouldn't have copied. I'd like to hear if there is.

 > IIRC the rule here is that you can always have at most one copy of an IP
> protected work that you do own as a backup.

The rule *here* is you can have *at least* one copy as a backup. At least 
for software.

You can also make copies if it's fundamentally necessary for using the 
copyrighted product. E.g., the owner can't claim you violated copyright by 
loading the software into the computer's memory or the DVD player's memory.

> Often followed by a note that these restriction do not apply in 
> countries where such restrictions are illegal. ;)

That too.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Why is there a chainsaw in DOOM?
   There aren't any trees on Mars.

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