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To the studios: STOP HOLDING TV ON DVD HOSTAGE! (1 Viewer)

tjguitar85

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Thomas

I thought stores only accept defective (or unopened) product? Would a consumer intentionally cause a defect and then take it back? Or are stores just dumb and don't check what's getting returned?
 

TravisR

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Most stores will only exchange for the same product but you can complain your way into a refund or a different product. You can't do it regularly but eventually if you go up the chain of command, someone is just not going to want to deal with you and give you what you want so you'll leave. :)

When it comes down to it, the stores don't really care if it's defective or not. They get credit for the product that is sent back as defective either way.
 

David Levine

Supporting Actor
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Apr 25, 2006
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502

Exactly.

When you see 2 rows of a relatively minor new release at Best Buy on street date, or when a company puts an ad for a real "dog" in the circular (meaning they have to also ship a certain large quantity to BB), you know that a huge percent of them are going to be going back.

The more DVDs that come out, the more valuable shelf space becomes, and then the faster stuff gets returned.
 

The Doctor

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Jeff Barlow

The 1970's "Logan's Run" TV show is available on iTunes and "Land of the Giants" was an exclusive until the absurdly overpriced box set was released last month.
 

MatthewA

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They also have the entire first season of Alice, which is not really exclusive as in2tv also has it uncut for free.

Still going to wait for DVDs.
 

alphanguy

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David
It amazes me all this trading/bootleg debate. I prefer to either buy the official release or tape it off air myself for my own viewing later. Anything else is too damn much trouble and ususally looks like crap. But for those who do trade and purchase bootlegs, I was told that the legal ramifications rests upon the SELLER and not the BUYER. One thing nobody ever mentions is that even if one does engage in petty copyright violation, it's not much worse than a littering fine or speeding ticket, as it's not a felony unless more than 10 copies with a retail value of 2,500$ or more as sold/distributed within a 6 month period. To me, this seems fair.... there are degrees of things being illegal, and the law was set up in this way just so like for instance.... teenagers that trade mix tapes and such don't get caught up in any legal hoo-ha. People who trade episodes of non commercially available TV shows, in my opinion, fit into this category. People who sell said shows on ebay however... do NOT.
 

Joseph DeMartino

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What you were told is wrong. Copyright violation has absolutely nothing to do with buying or selling. If you distribute copyrighted material you are in violation of copyright law and liable to civil action by the copyright holder. Criminal copyright may have a felony/misdemeanor line based on dollar value, but the civil tort does not. And if you think only the seller is affected by criminal law, try buying a stolen watch or car sometime and see what the cops have to say. :)

Regards,

Joe
 

alphanguy

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David
Joseph, your'e talking about stolen TANGIBLE property. and yes, I was referring to criminal penalty in regards to the dollar amounts. And YES, you could be sued by the copyright holder, you can be sued by anyone for almost anything. You can call someone a four letter word and they can SUE YOU, doens't mean it's prudent to do so. I guess if you are one of the big studios, you can troll the internet looking for people who trade tapes of your properties, and then spend a couple thousand dollars on attorneys and legal costs to try recoup your damages. 99 percent of companies won't or don't. and how do you arrive at a dollar amount for damages for a title which has never been released? What if it's something that was taped off air years ago and the studio doesn't even POSSESS a physical copy of the title, because they destroyed it years ago? There are much more profitable things to be spending your time on. In fact, alot of companies use the trading/bootleg market to gauge whether a title has a large enough cult following to warrant a release. Like it or not, they DO look at such things when making decisions. When it comes to artists, illegal downloads and such are frowned upon, as they should be... but the majority of artists (And I happen to be good friends with one) don't have problems with their fans trading commercially unavailable material amongst themselves, as long as it's NOT OFFICIALLY RELEASED, and as long as money does NOT change hands. It's kind of an unspoken (or soemtimes spoken) rule at least among music artists. Many artists are quite flattered that people love their work SO MUCH that people are willing to break a law to get it. They consider it ultimate fan devotion.
 

Stephen Wight

Second Unit
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Feb 28, 2005
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Stephen
I totally agree.The cost of bringing people to court,who trade some obscure show,would be just as much,if not more,than it would cost to just release it on DVD.
 

Tony J Case

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*Looks at huge pile of ligit DVDs*

So which is worse? Me breaking down once and buying the bootleg set of Batman or the loggerheads of two stupid studios who refuse to budge - for YEARS mind you - because of naked shameless greed? I'll willingly give up my money in a hot second to them if they released the real McCoy. But they squabble like spoiled brats, so F'em both.

Sure it's selfish to want the set, but the other side of the equasion looks a LOT worse than I do.
 

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