Buying / Selling Boxing DVD's in the UK - How illegal is it?

oneill · Post by **oneill** » 24 Mar 2005, 16:11

This is something I was wondering for quite a while now.

If somebody in the US downloads a PPV fight or cable broadcasted fight, it is illegal. I can see where the TV companies have a case here as it effects the sales of their PPV events and their cable subscriptions if people can download for free.

If somebody outside of the US downloads one of these fights in a country where they have not been available on broadcast, why would this be a big issue for the TV companies? It doesn't effect their sales in any way. If anything, it promotes boxing in general and the fighters involved and therefore would possibly produce more demand and possibly a worthwhile market for big fights to be televised in that country.

Moving on from this. I am a die hard boxing fan (like most people in here I assume) living in the UK but due to the bad coverage over here, I am unable to watch any of the US boxing that I read about every day ... unless I purchase it from suppliers in the US.

So if I buy some fight footage from somebody in the US who has recorded it, is this an illegal act in the UK and can I be prosecuted for doing it? If so, what would I be looking at? Being sued? Being jailed? Could I really go down for this??????

Now, what if I decide to make copies of this footage and give it to friends or fellow fans in the UK and charge them for the time it took me to copy the discs and compensate for the higher price I had to obtain it? This act still has absolutely no impact at all on sales of PPV or cable subscription in the US so why would the TV companies / copyright owners want me to stop?

Can they prosecute over this and what grounds would this be on? I would understand it if it was possible to buy retail boxing DVDs & careers, but this is not the case so it's not like copying and selling a load of retail movie DVDs. I read something about copyrights in the UK today and it said that if somebody continues to breach copyright after being asked to stop, they can possibly be sued for damages or royalties, depending on the circustances.

My understanding is that there are no damaging effects at all of buying or selling US fight footage in the UK. As I said above, this promotes boxing and if enough people are following these fighters careers and know who they are, well then maybe there will be enough interest for to make it worthwhile for the likes of Sky or Setanta to show these fights live on PPV and then everybody is happy. The TV companies get their profits, boxing becomes a bigger sport and we all get to see more live fights.

I would appreciate any comments people have on this and would also like to hear any stories of people being prosecuted for buying or selling boxing footage not previously broadcasted in the UK.

Thanks guys and thanks to all the people willing to provide boxing footage to those of us who don't have access to PPV and US cable events.

ArtOfWar · Post by **ArtOfWar** » 24 Mar 2005, 17:17

Buying fights from tape dealers is DEFINITELY illegal. It's obviously copyright, because your buying off someone who doesn't have the rights to the product. It's exactly the same as copying films, and then selling them.

However, there is no chance in a million years you would ever get prosecuted, because you would never get caught. It wouldn't be cost affective to try and shut down the sale and trade of boxing fights. Once you have a tape dealers contact details, you don't really even need the net. So how would a clamp down be enforced? Would the police set up surveillance on suspects, and start checking their mail?

It's a non-issue really, not even worth thinking about. People even advertise on the back of boxing magazines, because they know nothing will ever happen.

oneill · Post by **oneill** » 24 Mar 2005, 17:33

It's not the same as buying films and selling them. If I want to see a film, I can purchase a legal retail version of it. Otherwise I can buy a pirate copy. With boxing you don't have the option of going down the legal route because the US fights that are not broadcasted here cannot be obtained through "legal" methods. It is very different to buying and selling pirate films available on retail.

Manos de Oro · Post by **Manos de Oro** » 24 Mar 2005, 18:19

Don't worry about it, there are guys who have been doing it for decades with no problems.