I should also note that law is not universal and when advising people on the internet it should be noted as such. In Poland for instance downloading games dumped by others is perfectly legal, only sharing isn't.
Belated disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and I am certainly not your lawyer :) If you are interested in this kind of thing there is a lot of interesting casework in this area.
Yes, some locales pin the crime specifically on _distribution_ of copyrighted material. Downloading or possessing aren't restricted in the same fashion.
It seems like it's just a more old-school approach, based on a more centrally controlled market. If a publisher printed and distributed a book without authorization, would the buyers be liable?
Its one of those urban legends. There is article 23 defining "personal use":
Art. 23. Copyright
The scope of the work's own personal use
1.
Without the author's permission, you may use an already disseminated work for your own personal use free of charge. This provision does not authorize to build on the basis of someone else's architectural and urban planning work and to use electronic databases that meet the features of the work, unless it concerns own scientific use not related to profit-making purposes.
2.
The scope of personal use includes the use of single copies of works by the circle of persons remaining in a personal relationship, in particular kinship, affinity or social relationship.
But software is explicitly excluded by 77:
Art. 77.[32]
does not apply to computer programs art. 16 pkt 3-5, art. 20, art. 23, art. 23 ....
Personal use defined in article 23 might have something to do with copy tax we get on computer media like CDRs, USB drives and even ordinary HDDs.
I like how two of your sentences complement each other. You are in fact right about not trusting people on the internet - Its ILLEGAL to download pirate software in Poland. Movies and music on the other hand are perfectly fine.
