Shout! Factory's article on how to detect a bootleg release... (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

A manufacturing error at the replication plant isn't going to result in a single layered release instead of the intended dual layered product.

Definitely. It rarely ever results in a single-layered disc.

Manufacturing errors will almost always manifest themselves as random bad sectors. A frequent place where such random bad sectors due to manufacturing defects show up, is around the transition between the two layers on a dual-layered disc.

I can only think of one disc in my collection, where a manufacturing error resulted in a single-layered disc. It turned out the second layer was completely unreadable, which mostly had the special features. Nevertheless, the first layer was completely readable, which had the episodes intact and were encrypted with css. (For this particular disc, I strongly suspect it was incorrectly manufactured as a single-layer disc from the beginning).

 

[bigshot]

Mastering errors do exist. There was Lady From Shanghai that had a greatly reduced bitrate from what was intended, and White Zombie had a replacement program on it for the same reason. If you outsource the disk mastering to the replication factory, things can go wrong in any direction.

 

[LeoA]

I waited too long to buy Combat! with it now out of print and with the rights not even at Image Entertainment anymore (I asked about the chances of them remastering it and bringing it to Blu-Ray like they did with two other iconic classics from the 60's).

Anyways, the prices on Amazon are very high but it can be found economically on Ebay in complete series form. Some are quite obvious bootlegs such as 12 disc sets for what was supposed to be 40, but does anyone have any advice on locating a legitimate listing?

This for instance looks like a possibility with decent ratings, no reports of bootlegs, and no obvious signs in the pictures of it being a fake.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Combat-The-...6?hash=item3d16571f46:g:tQsAAOSwCypWps9D#rwid

I wonder what my chances are that it's a counterfeit?

 

[Brent Reid]

I wouldn't touch that eBay dealer with a barge pole. Check out both his current and completed listings: all he sells are lots of 'expensive' complete series box sets, but all with low starting prices. In addition, he's recently sold a definitely knocked-off, sealed 172-DVD (not a typo!) Disney box set, complete with numerous spelling errors on the packaging...

 

[Bob Gu]

Those prices at Amazon for the complete series sets, (There were two.), are not that out of line with the original purchase prices. I bought the individual half-season releases, ten vols, when they first came out for $20.00-$33.00 per half-season.

Those ebay listings that are bid situations probably have a hidden reserve price that has to be met, that is just as high as the Amazon listings.

I noticed a "buy it now" listing for $129.95. at ebay. (seller: snazzyz) That is just for information, not an endorsement. You could stick with "buy it now" sellers for the half-season sets and at a Amazon too, if that turns out to be cheaper.

Most/all? Combat! episodes are up at youtube.

 

[Regulus]

I looked up the price of Combat on the big river, I'm glad I got my copy when I did. OUCH!

 

[LeoA]

I didn't check today, but 3rd parties were asking nonsense like $1000 on Amazon recently which is obviously out of line. This one will be a tough one I guess, since I wouldn't want to spend $200-$300 if bootlegs are rampant.

I wonder if any pirates largely are eliminated if you buy standalone season sets for a series like this that saw a couple of complete series releases or by buying a set that's reportedly used from a seller that hasn't sold multiple copies of this one and a variety of other programs? Always a chance, but I'm thinking I'd up my odds of getting the genuine deal by going this route?

Maybe I'll give our marketplace forum a try at long last and see what happens.

 

[jcroy]

Interesting story on "insider" cd/dvd piracy, back during the heydays.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/27/the-man-who-broke-the-music-business

 

[Brent Reid]

Great read, like a really good spy novel. Thanks for posting!

 

[Ron1973]

Interesting story on "insider" cd/dvd piracy, back during the heydays.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/27/the-man-who-broke-the-music-business

I'll have to read it later. The high school I'm subbing for has the site blocked for some odd reason.

 

[whisperintherain]

Thank you guys for helping me figure out that one of my DVD sets is a bootleg release. I received The Good Wife - Season 3 as a Christmas gift from my sister back in 2012. I hadn't gotten around to watching it until now and immediately was taken aback by the poor picture quality in comparison to other season sets from that same show. I just checked the disk sizes and every single one of the 6 discs is 4.19 GB, which seems to indicate they are single layer. Doing further research, I should have noticed that the case was also suspiciously different from all my other CBS Paramount sets. I'm a little annoyed that it took me this long to determine, because now there is no way my sister can get her money back. I really can't blame her for getting fooled, because it's really difficult to tell when you have never been confronted to the issue before. I ordered the legitimate release today and will dispose of the counterfeit DVDs as soon as it arrives.

Again, huge thanks to everyone fighting the good fight to put these out of circulation!

 

[KPmusmag]

Ordering 3rd-party through amazon over the years, I have received bootlegs of I Dream of Jeannie complete series, Star Trek Voyager season 4, Sex and the City complete series, and The Jungle Book (animated). Jeannie actually had the TV Land logo imprinted in the image, Sex and the City and Jungle Book were so poorly compressed they had block noise, and some of the Voyager discs were actually missing episodes. I complained bitterly to amazon in each case and received a refund. I am not sure if they did anything about it, however. In each case, I was not required to send back the offending discs. I took them all to work and put them through the big shredder.

 

[bigshot]

It helps to click through to find out who the third party seller is. Some guy shipping stuff out of his garage is different than Movie Mars or other larger distributors discounting through Amazon.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Is Blu-Ray bootlegging a major concern yet, or is that still too difficult/not worth the effort?

 

[jcroy]

Is Blu-Ray bootlegging a major concern yet, or is that still too difficult/not worth the effort?

Good question.

(On a semi-unrelated topic).

Technicolor purchased Cinram's dvd/bluray manufacturing facilities back late last year. The question is whether Technicolor is going to completely shutter Cinram's bluray facilities, and move all production down to their huge Mexico operation.

If they do shutter it, the question is what will they do with the bluray equipment. Will they sell it to the highest bidder? Or will they scrap it entirely?

IIRC, Fox and Lionsgate were Cinram's two largest clients, before Cinram was bought out by Technicolor.

 

[jcroy]

I just checked the disk sizes and every single one of the 6 discs is 4.19 GB, which seems to indicate they are single layer.

Even more damning is if these single-layer discs do not have any encryption.

Burning dvdr discs with encryption that can be decoded easily by standalone dvd players, is actually a very non-trivial thing to pull off with off-the-shelf mass market computer equipment.

 

[classicmovieguy]

The simplest way to detect if you have a dual-layered disc is to see if there are two sets of barcodes and numbers (normally with L0 and L1 printed too) on the play side of the disc.