Years ago I sent my nephew 30 hours of his favorite TV shows on tape to Singapore, only to have them confiscated at the border. I'm visiting my daughter in Madrid (through Heathrow) and wonder if I can take her CDs and DVDs of american TV shows without customs stopping them ?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
I wouldn't worry about it. I went to Spain, through Heathrow, last May. I was never asked what I was carrying into either the UK or Spain. I had a checked bag, which I had to reclaim at Heathrow and take with me to Stansted for the onward flight to Spain, so it went through security twice. I was visiting a friend and his family, so I had a suitcase full of gifts for them.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
If they're commercially available products you probably won't have a problem....if they're "copied" they may not get through, because it's "pirated" material. Even if they do, though, the problem may be the encoding. DVDs in North America are encoded as Region 1, while Europe is Region 2. DVDs from one region will not play on machines purchased in another region...unless they aren't encoded to begin with. Most tourist spots that sell DVDs of their sights won't encode them so they can be played when the tourist gets home. However, most commercial products are encoded. It should say somewhere on the back of the DVD box what region it's encoded for. If you've recorded them on a computer DVD, they probably will not be encoded. But another problem is broadcast display standards. North American TV uses the NTSC video standard while Europe is PAL. One cannot be played on the other.