But isn't the US copyright holder the same as the foreign copyright
holder (i.e., the artist?) And therefore, wouldn't said artist generally
give themselves permission to sell their own records?
In the case where a record label may own a copyright (and not the
artist), wouldn't it be in the US label's best interest to keep the
imports highly priced to drive US consumers to the domestic disks?
The point of the law is probably to prevent undercutting the price of
the domestic product, which is certainly not a possibility in a
situation where US records and CD's are usually around half the price of
the imports
-CF
quoted 18 lines -----Original Message-----
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Lazlo Nibble [SMTP:lazlo@swcp.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 7:54 PM
>To: idm@hyperreal.com
>Subject: (idm) Parallel Imports
>
>> I don't think imports are "illegal" to sell alongside domestics.
>
>It's a violation of US copyright law (Title 17 section 602) to import works
>that have a US copyright without the permission of the US copyright holder.
>There are exceptions for personal use but distributors and stores that import
>non-US versions of current US titles are in violation of the letter of the
>law.
>
>(Doesn't mean I *agree* with the law, but there it is.)
>
>--
>::: Lazlo (lazlo@swcp.com; http://www.swcp.com/lazlo)