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DVD Piracy: How to Spot a Fake Author: Jonathan Crowe If you frequently buy DVDs online, you've probably had this experience. You find a great deal on a new release. It's described as factory sealed, direct from the manufacturer, and brand new. But something doesn't seem right. Maybe the price is just too low, you can't find the title in any stores yet, or buried in the shipping details is a suspicious reference to "repackaging the disc." These are just a few of the tell-tale signs of a bootleg, pirated, or otherwise illegal DVD. The MPAA estimates that DVD piracy costs the industry about $3.5 billion each year, despite numerous efforts to limit the replication of DVD movies (Variety.com, Nov. 3, 2004). On Ebay and other online marketplaces, bootleg DVD auctions often outnumber legitimate DVDs and many buyers don' t know the difference. Why avoid bootleg copies? While most law-enforcement efforts to combat DVD piracy are aimed at those who manufacture and sell illegal copies, the fact remains that the copies themselves are illegal. In addition, pirated copies are typically of a lower quality. While digital media does not lose its quality when copied, bootleg DVDs are often created using cheaper discs and equipment, or don't include chapter selection menus, special features, or the same audio standards such as Dolby Surround sound. Finally, DVD piracy is destructive to the industry. Many films barely generate enough revenue to cover the high costs of shooting a film. If DVD piracy continues to grow it can only hurt the entertainment industry. Spotting Fakes: 8 Ways to Avoid Bootlegs 1. Check the Title. Make sure the DVD you’re buying on has actually been released on DVD. This may seem obvious, but its surprising how many bootlegs are sold when an official copy hasn't been released yet. DVDs are typically released 2-8 months after a movie was in the theaters. So if you find a DVD for a movie that's still playing in your local theater, it may be a bootleg (note that second-run or bargain theaters may get the films late in the distribution cycle and could still be playing them when the movie is released on DVD). Some older titles have not been released on DVD format yet. For example, Disney's Cinderella was just released on DVD for the first time ever this October. How can you find out? Search on sites like www.videoeta.com to find out when a DVD will be released. Checking a large retailer like Amazon.com can help you determine whether legitimate sellers have the title. 2. Check the Price. New releases selling for under $7.00 are usually bootlegs. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you buy DVDs on auction sites, you may find legitimate DVDs with a low starting price to encourage bidding. However, if there is a "buy-it-now" price it indicates what the seller is hoping to get. If it's less than $7 or $8, chances are it's a bootleg. 3. Check the Seller. Avoid bad or limited feedback. Whether shopping on a retailer’s site or an auction site, check for some kind of buyer feedback. You can check store rating sites (like shopping.com, epinions, bizrate, etc) but keep in mind that these ratings take a long time to build and may not indicate the store's reliability. For example, Walmart's Shopping.com listing only has 268 reviews (as of 10/7/05). Prior to the launch of SpotlightDVD.com in June of 2005 we sold exclusively on Ebay, maintaining Silver Level Powerseller Status and a 99.9% feedback rating. However, as an independent web vendor our reputation on review sites has to be built from scratch again. A site's "About Us" page should have information about why you should trust the store. If it's absent or unconvincing, you may want to shop elsewhere. 4. Check the Seller's Location. Many bootlegs originate from Malaysia and China where copyright laws are less strict or unenforced. DVDs described as "imports" or "Asian Version" are almost always bootlegs In 2003, nearly 44 million pirated DVDs were seized in 13,000 raids in the Asia/Pacific region (Source: MPAA). Still, tens of millions more reach the US and are typically sold online or in flea markets. If a seller is located overseas or mentions shipping from overseas, be careful. They may be selling a legal asian copy but are unlikely to have legal Region 1 (for US and Canada distribution) studio releases. The easiest way to identify these is in the packaging and shipping details. 5. Packaging & Shipping. Tell-tale signs of bootlegs are often hidden in the “packaging” or “shipping” sections of auction listings or retail site FAQs.
6. Check the Region Code. DVDs listed as “region 0”, “region free” or “will work in any DVD player” are usually bootlegs. Most major U.S. studios use region coding (see our Guide to Buying DVDs for more info. on region coding) to control release dates in different parts of the world. Some independent movies, anime, Chinese films, and public-domain classic films will be released in region-free format. However, a large portion of bootlegs are made in this format because they are distributed worldwide, the bootleggers think the flexibility will be a selling point for their product, or because it takes more effort to restrict the DVD to a certain region than to publish it as region-free. 7. Check the Format & Specs. Most DVDs are in DVD-9 format, but only bootlegs make a big deal of it. DVD-9 refers to the layering and storage capacity of the disc. Most official releases are made in DVD-9 so you will probably not find any prominent mention of this on the DVD cover. Many bootlegs advertise this fact prominently to distinguish themselves from lower quality bootlegs. If you suspect you received a bootleg, you may want to compare the sound and display format specs to an in-store or online copy you know to be authentic. Bootlegs will sometimes differ from the official releases by having worse (or better) specifications. 8. Check the Authenticity Guarantees & Return Policy. Honest sellers have no problems offering guarantees. Most
people who sell authentic DVDs will state this fact clearly. The
listings will say it’s an “official”, “U.S. release”, “studio release”,
“authentic”, and “the same as what you would get in a major retail
store.” Surprisingly, few bootleggers will outright lie in their
listings so you often won’t find clear promises like this. You'll also
rarely find money-back guarantees. Sometimes even honest sellers may
unwittingly acquire a wholesale lot of bootlegs and resell them without
ever knowing they’re fakes. However, almost all will readily give you a
refund if you discover they’ve sent you a bootleg. In fact, most would
be glad to know of it so they can contact their supplier or avoid
future orders from them. What to do if you think you bought a bootleg 1. Contact the Seller. Even if you're positive they sent an illegal copy, give them a chance to correct it. There may be another explanation for the problem you found (for example, if there are no security seals, you may have received a legal but used copy that was repackaged). Sellers buying large wholesale or liquidation lots may have had a few bad copies slip into their inventory without knowing it. Give the seller a few days to offer a replacement or refund. 2. Send it back. You may want to take photos of the item first and send your return with "delivery confirmation." Keep receipts as proof that you returned the item and keep all copies of correspondence from the seller (if any). 3. Get your money back. If you don't hear back from the seller or if they refuse a refund, take the necessary steps to get your money back. Initiate a charge-back by contacting your credit card company (for PayPal payments log into your dispute resolution center and file a complaint). 4. Report the seller. You can report possible DVD piracy to the MPAA online at www.mpaa.org or by emailing hotline@mpaa.org. 5. Warn other buyers. Report the problems you had by leaving a negative review. If you bought from an Ebay customer remember you have about 90 days from the auction's end to leave feedback. You can leave feedback for online sellers at many of the following sites: www.bizrate.com, www.shopping.com, shopping.yahoo.com, www.resellerratings.com, www.bbb.org. The best place to leave feedback is through the site or channel you found the seller. If you clicked a Google ad, or found the site listed in a directory of stores, report the store to the site's administrators. How much should you pay for a new DVD? Since suspiciously low prices are one of the tell-tale signs of a bootleg, how can you know what is a good price? Start with stores you know are legitimate and see what price they have. Because these stores are large and have huge overhead, their prices will often be larger than smaller retailers. The trick is to find a store of the right size - small enough that they have few administrative expenses to drive up their prices, but large enough that they acquire DVDs through discounted bulk orders. For example, many Ebay Powersellers have small staffs or even work out of a home office, allowing them to sell with virtually no overhead compared to retail stores and major sites like Amazon. A
good rule of thumb is that you can find major retailers selling DVDs
for 2/3 the suggested retail price (MSRP - usually $20-30 for new
releases) and smaller retailers selling for about half of the MSRP.
Prices on auction sites are occasionally lower depending on the number
of sellers with a title, the popularity of the title, and how long it's
been out, but they typically hide their cost in inflated shipping
prices.
Guide to Buying DVDs (PDF) MPAA Article on Anti-Piracy Efforts MPAA FAQ on DVD Encryption and Piracy Copyright © 2003 - 2009 Wholesale-DVD-Directory.com All Rights Reserved. |
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