Ask the Rabbi
- Family and Society
- Finance and Halacha
- Damage and Theft
Question
A store sells duplicates of DVDs in the center of town for very cheap.
The DVDs are sold openly,
Is there a problem in buying them?
Answer
It’s very obvious that these DVDs were copied illegally.
It is a copyright violation for a business purpose, which is prohibited according to all major Poskim. Rav Moshe Feinstein Z”L considers it to be theft.
It is prohibited to buy from a thief, in order not to support him and not to encourage him to rob. Therefore one should not buy those DVDs.
[אג"מ או"ח ד סימן מ אות יט, שו"ע חו"מ סימן שנו סעיף א]
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