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Originally Posted by
charles maynes
If the person taking the goods "thinks" they might be offered free without knowing they are stolen they might assume they are some sort of promotion or are otherwise legal- if say a radio station is doing a street promotion where they are giving away CD's- (which may very well be not intended for that) are they responsible for an illegal action which they are unaware of?
First, if a radio station is doing a giveaway it is nearly always sponsored by the record label and the station is provided extra copies for that purpose. The conditions the CDs are to be used for are specified in writing.
Second, people are expected to exercise some discretion in where they source their music. In the case of downloading from a blog that does not have permission to distribute the question of end user liability is nebulous, but I doubt that anyone would be prosecuted for downloading. Distribution is a different matter.
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If say, one finds a CD in a shop that is identified as a promotional item, not to be resold, and the shop is selling it- are they responsible for buying an illegal item, and perhaps even being charged tax for it? I know that at least here in Los Angeles that happened a lot..... the same with cutout albums and CDs....
If you find a shop selling CDs marked "PROMOTIONAL" they are breaking the law. Report them to the appropriate authorities and the label that released the records. This usually comes about from reviewers (and sometimes radio station employees) selling off promo copies and
is a really scummy practice because not only does the artist lose a legitimate sale, they are actually CHARGED for each promo copy given out, so it actually COSTS THE ARTIST MONEY. You might also complain to the store's management but in my experience that rarely if ever does any good.
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the oddest thing I think I have seen is pirate sites that will offer an illegal download of a song, and then have a link to "legally" purchase it. I am assuming- and please correct me if I am wrong- that the "legal" version is equally illegal, and the site is simply directly charging for stolen property- but someone who may have innocently ended up there might actually pay the price for it- and essentially defrauding the user who is under the assumption they are doing the right thing.... in these instances, it appears to me SOPA is even more important....
I've never seen this, but I'd assume that the site is running a scam. I can't see how it could be otherwise, unless the link is to a totally unaffiliated site and they're just offering the links to bolster a "try before you buy" excuse.