A Few Words About A few words about...™ Vendors, film piracy and national security (1 Viewer)

[Professor Echo]

I'm not the biggest Amazon fan anymore, but I do agree that eBay and some other venues are like the wild west by comparison.

 

[Doug Bull]

This is not only happening on-line.

DVD shop stalls run by Asians have been appearing in many of the larger size Shopping Malls here in Australia.
These are not your small Sunday Market or Car Trunk sales these are plumb in the middle of our top Exclusive and Respected Shopping Malls.

Every DVD on display is an Asian bootleg or dupe. They are all $10 each. They are all Classic Titles mainly from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
They have lots of Disney (Song of the South anybody?)
A number of the titles on display have never had a legit DVD release. ( I suspect a Laserdisc source on some)

I've had several noisy and at times close to physical confrontations with these people. (My Wife has had to drag me away)
They insult me when I question the legality of their product. ("Go away silly man, you know nothing")
I've tried contacting the Mall's management, but they ignore my complaints. ( I guess it's rent money to them)

By selling titles from that period only, I guess they think it's safe that anybody will challenge them over copyright and legality.

I would never touch their product so I've no idea of the disc quality.

This whole piracy thing makes me sick to my stomach.

Doug.

 

[ahollis]

This whole piracy thing makes me sick to my stomach.Doug.

That is my feelings exactly. I also have a problem with the fanboy cuts of movies. It's just not right.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

That is my feelings exactly. I also have a problem with the fanboy cuts of movies. It's just not right.

I read that first as "cults" which gave me several amusing mental pictures...

 

[JohnMor]

This whole piracy thing makes me sick to my stomach.

Amen! My feeling as well. And what I hate almost as much (in fact maybe even more) are the idiots who defend the practice. "Well, if the greedy studios would just release the titles I want" or "not charge so much then we wouldn't be FORCED to buy bootlegs!" As if they own it more than the rights holders. REALLY infuriates me.

 

[Robert Harris]

With the British Hitchcocks, I really don't think it is that PD companies are knowingly infringing on existing copyrights. It's just that for some unknown reason these films are believed to still be in the public domain. Look at It's a Wonderful Life. In the 1980s that film was public domain and was played royalty-free on TV stations all over the country and was distributed on VHS by a myriad of companies. But then Republic managed to reclaim the copyright though the music that was used on the soundtrack, and they made that fact very clear to PD distributors.

I don't believe that for a moment.These people are thieves. It's the law, and has been since 1998.RAH

 

[Robert Harris]

This is not only happening on-line. DVD shop stalls run by Asians have been appearing in many of the larger size Shopping Malls here in Australia.These are not your small Sunday Market or Car Trunk sales these are plumb in the middle of our top Exclusive and Respected Shopping Malls. Every DVD on display is an Asian bootleg or dupe. They are all $10 each. They are all Classic Titles mainly from the 40s, 50s and 60s.They have lots of Disney (Song of the South anybody?)A number of the titles on display have never had a legit DVD release. ( I suspect a Laserdisc source on some) I've had several noisy and at times close to physical confrontations with these people. (My Wife has had to drag me away)They insult me when I question the legality of their product. ("Go away silly man, you know nothing")I've tried contacting the Mall's management, but they ignore my complaints. ( I guess it's rent money to them) By selling titles from that period only, I guess they think it's safe that anybody will challenge them over copyright and legality. I would never touch their product so I've no idea of the disc quality. This whole piracy thing makes me sick to my stomach. Doug.

Call in the police.

 

[FrancisP]

If the rightholders are not interested in releasing it then they have nothing to complain about. I suspect that is also why they don't do anything about it. Because they have no interest in releasing it so why bother?

I have knowingly bought bootlegs if that is the only way to do it. If someone is willing to release it legitimately then I have also bought those as well.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

If the rightholders are not interested in releasing it then they have nothing to complain about. I suspect that is also why they don't do anything about it. Because they have no interest in releasing it so why bother?I have knowingly bought bootlegs if that is the only way to do it. If someone is willing to release it legitimately then I have also bought those as well.

So if I'm not using my car, it's ok for someone else to go joyriding in it?Nobody has a right to own a copy of a film just because they want it, the rights holders sitting on things doesn't justify theft.

 

[Robert Harris]

If the rightholders are not interested in releasing it then they have nothing to complain about. I suspect that is also why they don't do anything about it. Because they have no interest in releasing it so why bother? I have knowingly bought bootlegs if that is the only way to do it. If someone is willing to release it legitimately then I have also bought those as well.

Are you suggesting that Alfred Hitchcock, having the copyrights and ownership of five films revert to him contractually, should have lost his rights because of his desire to vault them for a decade?How might Disney feel if I did a reissue and Blu-ray of Song of the South?Or if someone came into your home and took everything that you had not dealt with in 60 days? Any reason why you should continue to have ownership?

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have found out that box sets of Mystery Science Theather 3000 are sometimes copies burned on a blank discs...Even the company that releases them The Shout Factory knows about this so buyer beware.

 

[Ignatius]

Lets not forget Echo Bridge who releases films they don't have the rights too...

Please explain.

While they've done quite a bit to clean up their act, only a few years ago they were releasing a significant number of multi-film boxsets along the lines of what Brentwood used to churn out. 50 films on 12 double-sided discs, transfers ripped from VHS etc. I have their 50 film 'Horror' set and I'm pretty sure they don't have the rights to either Bad Taste or Deep Red, both of which are included along with a swathe of titles that tend to show up on similar 'grey-market' releases.

I believe they started on the road to becoming legitimate when they picked up the rights to a number of BCI Eclipse holdings when that company went under, though I haven't had the chance to go back and double-check that.

Scratch all that. I have the horrible habit of getting Echo Bridge and Mill Creek mixed up. Though my original point still stands for Mill Creek, they spent years churning out cheap copies of so-called 'public domain' films only to turn around and start obtaining proper licensing deals around the start of the Blu-Ray era.

 

[FanboyZ]

Call in the police.

The police don't care.

These stalls are all over the Mall of America, the name is "foreign flix".
They operate with impunity and mock the civil order.

I'd put a stop to it, If I had an army of ideologically pure soldiers of the people.
Soldiers who have made peace with the bad things the greater good requires.

 

[Vincent_P]

...I also have a problem with the fanboy cuts of movies. It's just not right.

What if the "fanboy cut" is just for private use? For example, I put together my own hybrid cut of the theatrical and TV edits of David Lynch's DUNE and it's my prefered way to watch the film, but I'm certainly not selling copies of it to anybody.

Vincent

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I think it's more irritating when people make their personal cuts available and try to gain publicity off it is when it grates on me. I have a couple films where I did my own version but I don't put it up as superior to the filmmaker's version

 

[ahollis]

I don't believe that for a moment.These people are thieves. It's the law, and has been since 1998.RAH

AMEN!

 

[ahollis]

What if the "fanboy cut" is just for private use? For example, I put together my own hybrid cut of the theatrical and TV edits of David Lynch's DUNE and it's my prefered way to watch the film, but I'm certainly not selling copies of it to anybody. Vincent

Sorry still not right. Just my opinion.

 

[Doug Bull]

I believe there is a private organisation here in Australia that is able to lay charges and confiscate illegal discs, but I'm not sure of their name.
They might be the best option in helping combat this insidious and illegal DVD trade.

Doug.

 

[Professor Echo]

Say, haven't we discussed all this stuff before in other threads? The topic of Amazon knowingly selling unauthorized product was new, but all this up in arms over bootlegging has been dealt with many times on HTF. Maybe reviving one of those threads is a better idea than continuing in the exact same vein on this one.

 

[Doctorossi]

If the rightholders are not interested in releasing it then they have nothing to complain about.

Do you know what "rights" means? It means it is their decision whether the title is released or not. If you were entitled to it, whether they release it or not, their rights would be meaningless.