Bootleg DVDs! (1 Viewer)

[Charlie Essmeier]

Time to get the terminology straight, folks:

1. Bootleg An unathorized release of previously unavailable material. For example, if someone attends a Metallica show, videotapes it and subsequently sells DVDs of the show, those are bootlegs.

2. Counterfeit Near-exact copies of an item, legitimate or otherwise, intended to fool the buyer into thinking they have the real article. Example: the many copies of Criterion's Salo that appear to be genuine on first glance, but are not.

3. Pirate An unauthorized release of an authorized product, similar or identical in content to the genuine item, but packaged in such a way that the buyer would not be fooled into thinking it was the genuine article. Example: an DVD of a movie filmed in a theater on a camcorder and privately packaged.

It would appear that BillyH's copy of Auto Focus is a pirate, rather than a bootleg.

Charlie

 

[Damin J Toell]

Time to get the terminology straight, folks:

Depends on who you ask, I suppose. Webster's provides the following definition for the verb bootleg: "to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization." It seems like the proper term has been used in this thread to me. Indeed, everyone seems to have known exactly what BillyH was talking about.

DJ

edited to fix typo

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm with Damin

Bootleg: "To produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally"
or "Produced, sold, or transported illegally"

It seems that Pirate and Counterfeit are more specific terms whereas Bootleg is used more as a generic term.

Bootleg was originally described as a way of hiding alcohol in your boot (which really can't be translatted directly to DVD) so the term has morphed into a more generalized term (meaning something illegal) that we all understand and don't really need to be so specific about in regular conversations.


p.s. According to the Urban Dictionary, Bootleg means "A pirated copy of something"

 

[DaveGTP]

I mentioned this in the novice anime thread - I was looking for the Lain anime boxset (it runs about $100 for 4 discs, pricey, but good stuff). There are so many frickin' bootlegs on Ebay that I couldn't find a legitimate auction in 3 pages of hits. Not one single solitary non-bootleg copy of even one of the discs. They were all all-region 'imports'. Can't the people auctioning bootleg DVDs be shut down if they are reported?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Dave: Only if Pioneer is the one complaining

 

[DaveGTP]

Too true. If it is brought to the studio's attention, will they do anything? He he he, the screener of LOTR:TT has a phone number to call for piracy, maybe I should call that up sometime.

 

[Galen_V]

Half.com is closing up shop in a few months, so the price undercutting will stop then. But unfortunately, the bootlegging will not.

 

[Sean Campbell]

About six months back I bought a DVD copy of 'The Quiet Earth' from an Ebay seller, a 'Hong Kong Import' as he called it. As soon as it arrived I quickly realised that something was up - the box artwork was cheaply printed and the disc itself was obviously a DVD-R. It was a straight transfer from a VHS, the sound quality and picture both awful. I managed to get my money back from the seller, but the thing that really annoyed me was his point blank refusal to accept that it was a bootleg. Not only was he dealing in low quality, illegal merchandise, but he was clearly insulting the intelligence of his customers too. I kept an eye on his feedback rating over the next few weeks, noticing that a large percentage of his customers were leaving negative remarks. Yet each and every time, the guy tried to deny the fact that he was selling bootlegs...
Example:
"Bad Seller - disc is poor homemade copy"
Response From Seller:
"No! Disc is Hong Kong import!"

And this went on for weeks...

 

[ChrisJefferys]

Charlie's definitions of bootleg, counterfeit and pirate are essentially correct and have been the terms used and accepted by record and music collectors for years, but they really haven't been adopted by video collectors on such a wide scale (instead, bootleg seems to be most widely used and accepted).

 

[Chris_Morris]

I too got nailed today with a counterfeit DVD of Shaolin Soccer off of half.com's big brother Very obvious packaging, some of the features are not accessible (like DTS )Waiting now to see what the seller will do about it, since the big thing in the auction was the DTS sound.

edit:
And I just found out that importing it directly from a Hong Kong retailer would have only been $.33 more
Now I really feel like an idiot :b
Chris

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

This problem is only going to get worse because DVD burners are cheap and software to convert dual layer DVD discs to single layer(9GB to 4.7GB) discs is getting better and freely available. I made a copy of Toy Story(from a legitimate copy I bought) on a DVD+RW with free software and it looked fantastic, anamorphic etc.... This problem is going to get worse.

 

[Jon Martin]

Half.com is closing up shop in a few months, so the price undercutting will stop then. But unfortunately, the bootlegging will not.

Where did you hear this??? They are owned by Ebay and doing very well.

As far as Brian Kidd saying that he is afraid to list Mickey Mouse on Ebay, don't be. Just write in the description that it has been watched. Even state it isn't a bootleg. You have nothing to worry about. You may do quite well. If someone sells something on Ebay and it is a bootleg, and gets reported, the seller will be shut down.

Ebay still has a lot of honest sellers who fight bootleggers.

 

[Ryan FB]

If someone sells something on Ebay and it is a bootleg, and gets reported, the seller will be shut down.

Not always. Much of the time, eBay will insist that they can't/won't shut down the auction unless you are the copyright holder (at least that was their infuriating response when I've reported obvious bootlegs in the past).

 

[Steve_Ch]

>>Where did you hear this??? They are owned by Ebay and doing very well.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

If someone sells something on Ebay and it is a bootleg, and gets reported, the seller will be shut down.

Ebay requires that you get a statement from a professional assesor that a DVD is a bootleg. For some that costs $14, this just isn't worthwhile.

 

[Karl F]

Where did you hear this??? They are owned by Ebay and doing very well.

 

[Jon Martin]

Not always. Much of the time, eBay will insist that they can't/won't shut down the auction unless you are the copyright holder (at least that was their infuriating response when I've reported obvious bootlegs in the past).

Same here. But if you buy a DVD and find out it is an audience shot bootleg or something like that, and you tell Ebay, they may shut them down for that. Either that or leave them negative feedback saying they are selling bootlegs. That will scare off a lot of future bidders.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Ebay won't do jack. You have to rely on feedback.

 

[JustinCleveland]

I'm thinking that report meant the two site would become intertwined, such as they have a couple years back. I was using Half.com before they were eBay's little brother (and flooded with boots). What the report meant was that feedback would apply to both, and they would work together. Half.com is not going anywhere. It's a cash cow for the company. Think about it: they host bandwidth and get paid somewhere around 2 dollars for every item on there. Good deal for them.

 

[Chad R]

But make sure they leave you feedback first, as often they will leave you retalitory negative feedback ruining your legitimate rating even though they are bootleggers.