Hi,

I have a question for my crossing the border in a few weeks. In the Guide to Customs Regulations, it says:

Books, Video Tapes, Computer Programs and Cassettes
Pirated copies of copyrighted articles (unlawfully made reproductions or articles produced without the copyright owner’s authorization, e.g., music CDs, toys, clothing with cartoon characters, etc.,) are prohibited from importation into the United States. Pirated copies will be seized and destroyed.


Now I have some classical music cassette tapes that I recorded off the radio. Should I not bring those? My mom also gave me some music cds that she had copied off of old vinyl records at least 30 years old. Would the copyright from 30 years ago still apply today? Are they going to be a problem? Anybody have any experience here?

Thanks

Most of the time, they basically look to see that you have an itemized list and waive your crap through and focus on the paperwork...

so I doubt they'll ask you to open up box #42 and look through your music

liz - you telling me i have to itemize everything i'm taking across the border..... ...i better start now cause i'm going to have a u-hual of stuff....

I itemized by box-- ie. Box 1 : books, Box 2: home decor, Box 3: kitchen appliances/tools, etc.

You don't have to individually name every single item in each box. Categories will suffice. When it comes to the big ticket items, like TVs, etc., it would be good to have their serial numbers and approximate values listed.

Box 4: Pirated CD's.

Ya, you just have to have a list basically of what you're putting into each box.

Each box should be numbered and the POE guy should be able to look at the list and know what's in what box by it...

Like I said....I best get busy and get to marking whats in those boxes....I have a shed full...and then some....

use this as a really great opportunity to purge a lot of stuff.

Box 5: DVDs of Michael Moore movies.

I thought I had....guess there is always more that can be purged....

Oh the joys of being young and able to fit my entire life into two suitcases

What I mean is, I'm not deliberately pirating anything. My parents had all these old vinyl records, which were copyrighted but are no longer being manufactured, and we simply transferred the music to cd's so we wouldn't have to bother with the obsolete records anymore. I want to take some of those cd's with me, for my own use, and I'm just wondering if the border guards were to search my stuff and ask me about them, if that would be a problem. I've also made cassette tapes of classical music from the radio, which should not be a problem, but I just thought I'd ask you guys.

Thanks

ah copyright law, that's a quick easy subject. generally copies of music for personal use and backup aren't illeagal. ie. mix tapes are completely legal. so it's all about the line between "mix tapes" and pirated music. it's a lot more gray than it first appears. However, the fact that you are even thinking about the subject makes me think that you don't need to worry.

It's not a problem. We itemized things to exhaustion, and we just put down 762 CDs. Some of them were indeed burnt for us by friends, but we didn't put that down
You should be just fine my dear.

I had a stack of over 200 burned dvd movies and made it through ok.. of course i had a fully loaded mitsubishi lancer with a cat.. So i dont thin kthey even searched cuz they came in a minute later,

Hi Mopsie,

I do understand your concern, I would probably be worrying about it too. But anyhoo, I think you will be just fine