Question about the legality of selling certain films.....I'd like your input!

[Ash]

Around a year ago or so I went to E-bay and bid on an auction for the bad film "Terrorvision".  
I won said auction.  
After waiting several weeks I  called  the Joe Schmoe who was selling said film.  He was very rude to me.  Since he was in Chicago and I am in Iowa I shrugged him off as a big city a***ole.  I went to his website.  He is obviously a very disturbed individual.  On his site he had all kinds of sadistic things (serial killer stuff) and Nazi s**t.  He has a pic of himself on his site.  Even he looks nothing like it, I likened him to the sick, racist Nazi f**k from the film "Falling Down".  I imagine that his "real life" shop is very similar to the a***ole's in the movie.  (probably has an empty can of Zyklon B).  
    After a month and a half I went to my mailbox and found said film waiting for me.  He had FINALLY sent it to me.  
    It was "Terrorvision" all right.
I removed it from the cardboard packaging.  
I took it in my hands, opened it up  and examined it.
    What I held in my hands was obviously NOT an original copy.
This film I had sought after for some time was nothing BUT a copy.
When I say copy I mean that it was literally copied from the original.  
A FAKE.
 He had taken a blank tape and recorded "Terrorvision" onto it and then boxed it up to look like the original.
When you record a film using 2 VCR's you usually get that text on the blank screen that says "recording" (or REC) as you start it.  My movie has all of this.
It was just the thing that the F.B.I. warnings preceding all films tell you not to do lest you should be punished by heavy fines and/or possible imprisonment.  
    This "entrepenuer" has obviously made who knows how many hundred copies of this film and has been making money from it hand over fist!
    He has taken a film and duplicated it to sell for his own personal gain.
    Believe me when I say that it is definitely a QUALITY reproduction and the case that he put it in was very nice as well.  It's almost undectectable that it is a fake.  However to my trained eye......
When you look at the tape itself it has a sticker on it that states the title of the film.  This sticker was most likely printed on his home computer color printer as was the ENTIRE sleeve.  (I pulled it out and examined it also...standard color printer fare)
    When I first noticed these abnormalities the 1st thought that ran through my head was "I could turn this bastard in for copyright infringement."
    Then I thought to myself that he kind of did me a favor in a way.
He, even though illegally, provided this film to me for a dirt cheap price. ($5.00 + shipping)
He did something for me.
    He saved me money.
There is nothing wrong with the quality of my movie and I've wached it several times.
    He provided a bad film to a bad film lover at a good price.  
I'm not the type of person to turn him in.  Though I should have.  
Had I done so he would probably be living in a "federal pound me in the ass prison" right now.  
Was he wrong to do such a thing and would you purchase from him if he were able to provide you with just the bad film you were looking for?
I understand that this is a moral question.
    Even though he is technically breaking the law, he is providing us with what WE as a group desire most.  
Bad movies at a very low price.
    Where do you stand in this issue?

[mr. henry]

if this movie was "TerrorVision"...with that annoying theme song..."terr---or--vi---sion"...then i feel for you regardless of all the other drama...

i don't know ash...but the whole thing sounds pretty lame...leave the worst feedback you can...

-mr. henry

[Ash]

HUH?  
What do you mean by feedback?  Do you mean feedback against the seller?  
In my original post I asked a question.
You did not answer it Mr Henry.  
Only gave your opinion.
I do value your opinion though and give you due credit.  Thanks for the input.
    Everyone, I would like your moral (or immoral) honest answer to this question PLUS your opinion.
That's what I was going for all along.
Please let us all know!

[Andrew]

The seller did wrong.  He made a copy of a film, to which he has no rights, and sold it for a profit.  

I have a number of spare tapes (usually since I managed to pick up a second by accident or the film came to DVD).  Sell them all the time on Ebay and I always try to carefully describe the condition of both the film and the case.  They are always originals.

[Flangepart]

Good thing this came up.
....I've gotten some decent original cut/language copies of Kaiju flicks. And have a place where i can get more. I would much rather have Original Toho/Diei dvds, but they are not going to make them available anytime soom.
....So...should i order some, or do as the Magazine G-Fan, and not deal with such places?
....Video Daikiju does good work, for example...but how do they avoid getting into copyright trouble? Toho is tight assed about their character images  being used in fan mags like G-Fan, and i can't think they have no awareness of this busness.
....What do you guys think?

[Deena]

I can't say that I would fell comfortable turning them in, but it raises many other questions.  What if this person is busted and your info is on something in their possession, would you get into trouble for not turning them in?  I'm sure you could turn them in on e-bay in a more low key fashion than calling the feds, which may be comfortable to do.  If the guy is a nazi and all the bad things you said, he may be using this money from illegal copies to fund his racist schemes/ organizations he's involved in.  Which I am sure that most ppl would not be too happy to hear they are supporting.  So I'm thinking that it may be a good idea to turn him in, just to e-bay if you don't want to mess with cops.  

Adding my ethics,
Deena

[John]

I have mixed feelings about this.

If the films a person is selling copies of aren't currently available and original copies are hard to come by, then I'd be inclined to think it was ok. Sure it's still illegal, but the way I look at it, how important can the movie be to the studio if they don't have it available on tape? If they think there isn't a big enough audience to make it worth their time and money to put it out on video (or re-release it), then I take a sort of "You snooze, you lose" attitude. The same thing is happening with old software, but because of the rapidly evolving computer scene, old software is likely to never be re-released. Companies still don't want it being posted on the net though. Personally, I think you should be allowed to copy things that aren't currently on the market and haven't been for quite a while.

On the other hand, if someone is selling copies of Blade II, that I wouldn't condone because it's currently available and selling copies would take away sales from the legitimate product. That's not to say that I've never copied a video tape or accepted a copy from someone, but I don't think people should be making money at the studio's expense.

Of course when deciding what movies to ask a studio to release on DVD, a movie fan might be more inclined to ask for something they don't have ANY copy of rather than something they already have on tape, even if it's a bootleg. Then the studio might think there's no interest in a particular movie since everyone already has a copy.

[ABPOS]

im not one to speak of morals, but it was illegal. im in a similar position. some guy is selling cannibal holocaust on ebay on 2 vcds for $1

[wheresthecarrot]

I'm pretty sure, from a legal standpoint, what the guy did is wrong.

From a moral standpoint, here are my thoughts......I think it's o.k. to copy the video for personal use...but if you are selling them, its a bit different.

If, the movie is no longer available to purchase new, I think it's o.k. to  make a copy for yourself, or purchase one.

If the movie is from a large production company, I think it's o.k. to copy it a few times to give away to close friends or something (The Scorpion King's Sales are not gonna suffer cause some dude copied the video for some friends)

I don't think it's cool, however, to do it to smaller production companies.  You can buy "Cannibal the Musical" new.  I think ya should.  Trey Parker probably could use the money.

I also think its o.k. to copy something if you just bought it and it already has been stolen or broken or something.

Selling is a different matter.  I think that you should only copy stuff to sell if it's out of production, and you need to inform the consumer that it's a copy, and you need to sell it for cheap.

[Ash]

...........

[frannie]

I would probably turn him in just because he is trying to make a profit at it.  I have a ton of mp3s that I download and burn to cds.  but i don't sell them.  just listen to them myself or do a burn for a friend.  much like making a mixed tape.