Laptop, travel and illegal content [closed]

I can't say anything about Italy, but both in the UK and Germany, that police officer would have to have a reasonable suspicion that they find evidence of a crime on your computer, and a search warrant. So where would that reasonable suspicion come from, and where would the search warrant come from? And how on earth would a police officer be able to find out that the music or videos on my computer are legal or illegal? Especially on an airport, where it is very unlikely that illegal copies were made while in the UK or in Germany - making illegal copies in the USA for example is none of their business.

No.

I can only speak for Germany, but looking content acquired by illegal means, e.g. Filesharing is not a theft (@Russell), but a copyright violation.

This has a distinct asymmetry: If you are offering illegal content by cracking or uploading and/or doing this as business (meaning in law: At regular intervals or locations and using it to make profit for you), this may be punished with up to three years in prison and is sufficient enough to warrant a search. The only proven case so far ended with a fine of 8400 €.

But if you are watching illegal content as in your case, it is considered a misdemeanor and absolutely not sufficient to warrant a search (and police has strict rules governing searches). If you are playing the new hit directly behind the president of the RIAA: What he may do is calling the police to take your address, sue you (yes, he needs to be actively involved, the government does not take his case automatically) and get a fine from you which has the maximum value of 100 €. Seriously.