Is it *legal* to sell used or new DVDs of movies, TV shows, on ebay?

[dan22cog]

Does this go against the "FBI Warning" that's at the beginning of every DVD?

[dmil8030 · Accepted solution]

Of course it is legal, - how else would we get to watch these programs? 🙂  What is not acceptable is to copy the latest MGM release with one's own in-home equipment and sell these.  That's what the FBI thing is all about.

For items that are in the public domain, however, it is indeed okay to copy and sell those, and some folks are expert at film restoration and do a good job cleaning up old prints.  Others just copy what they find.  Here is the ebay policy on public domain movies:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/public-domain.html

Bootleg recordings, - those where people download a movie before the official theatrical release, that sort of thing, - strictly forbidden.  Here's what ebay says about that:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/bootlegs.html

But if you go to Walmart and buy "Fight Club", watch it and don't like it, put it on ebay for sale and I buy it, - perfectly okay.

[scifan57]

You can do whatever you want with the DVD set you bought new, including selling it.

[ok_so_im_50]

You also cannot take a legal copy and then make a copy and sell it. Nor can you record a TV show, make a copy and sell it. It's all about the copyright.