I'm not a lawyer and I wouldn't bet on how the court case would go, considering that the MPAA will hire very expensive lawyers and you probably will not. Most likely, it won't get that far and you'll settle out of court to avoid the court costs, so you'll pay regardless of whether it was actually illegal.

However, yes, my understanding of copyright law is that it only limits those who currently own a copy from making and distributing more. The relevant US Law is actually very short, take a look at Section 106: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#106

(Edit: 106 lists what it is against the law to do, as you can see from 501 which talks about punishment etc. https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html )