Discussion:
What is the name of your state?
NY
How does copyright law affect imports?
IE. If a company like Allofmp3.com legimitely licenses a copy for resale (or buys that copy or whatever) in another country, can they then legimately sell that copy to me in NY state? If I buy it from them, does copyright law even come into effect? Or is it only import law?
Let's assume now instead of them shipping me a disc, they let me download it a la iTunes. If they legimitely (under the law in their country) get a license to do that, does copyright law in the US prevent me from purchasing a download from them? If I do purchase a download in that manner, am I breaking the law in the US?
I don't mean specifically Allofmp3.com - they could be a scam, I'm just wondering based on the premises above, is there a way to legally buy downloads from other countries in the US so that you are not breaking US law by downloading it.
Answer:
If a company like Allofmp3.com legimitely licenses a copy for resale (or buys that copy or whatever) in another country, can they then legimately sell that copy to me in NY state? Are you talking about downloads or physical disks? In the case of a physical disk, you or anyone else could buy a disk in Germany, bring it to the U.S. and sell it without violating copyright laws. There may be some trademark or other contractual issues if you happen to be a wholesaler, but if you buy retail, you can import it and sell it yourself. Again, if you do this in bulk, there may be import restrictions and laws you may be subject to.
Now, if it's a download, then that's a whole 'nuther thing. It would depend entirely on the scope of the license -- if their license allowed them to sell downloads to anyone, anywhere, then it would be legal. If they are limited to selling downloads in Germany, then selling a download to someone in NY would be illegal. This gets to be pretty complicated -- in this case, whether you would be subject to German law or U.S. law would depend on a whole host of different things -- and jurisdiction is even another thing to worry about yet.
is there a way to legally buy downloads from other countries in the US so that you are not breaking US law by downloading it. If they have a license to sell you the work, then there are no laws broken. If they don't have a license, then copyright laws are being violated.
The problem is, of course, determing whether or not they have the proper licenses -- if you buy something that is illegal, you could be in trouble as well...