Eric Takabayashi wrote:

> Kevin Gowen wrote:
> 
> 
>>Copyright infringement is against the law, but it is not larceny.
> 
> 
> Can people successfully sue for the full financial damages, such as all the
> money the pirates made off the product, or all the money that would have
> been made had the company sold the same number of units at full price?

Yes, the copyright owner can sue for the profits that the infringer made
as well as the damage he suffered i.e. the profit he would have made.
You can learn more my reading this section on infringement and remedies:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html

>>Sometimes. Mistake of law is not an excuse ("I didn't know it was
>>against the law") but mistake of fact sometimes is. For example, while
>>leaving a restaurant on a rainy day, you take someone else's umbrella
>>out of the umbrella rack while honestly believing it to be your own. You
>>have not committed larceny.
> 
> 
> BTW, what does happen when a person is caught knowingly receiving stolen
> property, such as buying a TV out of the trunk of someone's car?

By statute in most (all?) states, the person who knowingly receives the
stolen goods is liable as if he were the principal thief. The principal
thief cannot be charged with receiving stolen goods.

- Kevin