Legal Question in Business Law in Texas

Imported DVD Sales With Regards to Copyrights

I sell DVDs at online auctions & websites. Most DVDs I sell are imported from the Phillippines or China because of costs factors. Because many DVDs are published sooner in these countries than the U.S., they have availibility to ''new release'' titles before they are released to American video stores for resale, and sometime while they are still in theaters. My question is this: What are the legalities of selling these ''new releases'' on auction sites (which is not only U.S. but international)? If there is a legality issue in selling a DVD prior to release to video stores in this country, would it still be legal to sell the DVD if a ''disclaimer'' was included in the auction description noting that these are for ''pre-sale'' only in the U.S. and will not be released until the official release date? I have contacted several movie studios in reference to this, but none have returned my request for information. One auction site in particular, eBay, calls this a violation of VeRO, and arbritarily removes your auction, but still charges you the placement fees and commissions. Any information you can provide in this matter would be highly appreciative. Thanks


Asked on 4/20/03, 3:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Bradie Bradie, Bradie & Bradie

Re: Imported DVD Sales With Regards to Copyrights

These are probably pirated copies and your sales are contributing to a copyright violation. You may be slapped with a $100,000 penalty for dealing in pirated DVDs. Those aren't "released early", those are stolen and copied early.

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Answered on 4/21/03, 10:04 am


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