Originally posted by AquaDome I asked an FBI agent about this. He said the FBI has better things to do than go after people who steal cable tv and copy videos.
I'm not a lawyer and even then it probably takes a specialized one in copyright law to know all this. But I believe taking a copy of a video or picture is technically not grounds to be arrested because you have not stolen anything. The owner still has the original. But it can be illegal if the content has been encrypted, I think.
Purchased DVD/Blu-rays have secret, proprietary encryption. And the software to decrypt it has to be licensed. Most likely big business saw the discrepancy in the law about taking copies of things vs stealing physical property and since they have lots of money can push and pass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which makes it a crime to circumvent the encryption.
That is what they can arrest you for not so much the act of taking copies of things. The owner has to pursue compensation in the courts for that, I believe. But like I said I'm not a lawyer and this subject is complicated.