How to tell if your DVD is bootleg

[GreatGreg]

1) They cost pennies to produce. If I were to buy blank DVDs, it costs me about 40-cents (CDN) each and that's for a brand name with inkjet printable tops. The slipcovers and inserts are likely also pennies each since they can afford to give them away for free with even bootleg movies.
2) The way the industry is moving, even bootleggers are moving from physical media, so they likely don't want the stock or inventory back. Even seven years ago, when I visited China looking for DVDs and Blu-rays, my local colleagues were raising an eyebrow at me saying that no one buys discs anymore.
At the time, everything was moving digital. You bring a SSD drive or HDD and give the bootleggers a list of all the movies you want. You are charged 1 Chinese yuan per GIG OF DATA.

[smithb]

Originally Posted by GreatGreg

1) They cost pennies to produce. If I were to buy blank DVDs, it costs me about 40-cents (CDN) each and that's for a brand name with inkjet printable tops. The slipcovers and inserts are likely also pennies each since they can afford to give them away for free with even bootleg movies.
2) The way the industry is moving, even bootleggers are moving from physical media, so they likely don't want the stock or inventory back. Even seven years ago, when I visited China looking for DVDs and Blu-rays, my local colleagues were raising an eyebrow at me saying that no one buys discs anymore.
At the time, everything was moving digital. You bring a SSD drive or HDD and give the bootleggers a list of all the movies you want. You are charged 1 Chinese yuan per GIG OF DATA.

Agreed. In the past when I bought older sports games, a few weeks later I'd get a package in the mail with a bunch of replicated DVD's. However, my latest purchases are all being delivery via the cloud for easy download. It's great. I realize many have downloaded from torrent sites for years. However, I much prefer downloading from personal cloud space, which is very cheap to maintain these days.

[PoorCampBlu]

Dark Shadows Coffin sets - the only safe assumption for these sets from Ebay are that they are pirated --- even the Numbered sets have been pirated. I have also heard that Amazon used sets being fakes as well.

Two years ago I bought from ebay Game of Thrones seasons 1-6 (dvd) and they were obvious fakes - burned dvds, smeared disc art, box art slightly off - I had to fight the Seller throughout the ebay process to return the blasted things.

[shinobipopcorn]

About 90% of Disney discs on ebay are fake. Lion King Platinum is a good example, they fake it slipcover and all; and it's really hard to tell apart from the real one. The original has a gatefold and the barcode is covered (from what I remember, I'm not getting up to check mine). The fake is the opposite, no gatefold and a cutout barcode. One is also shiny and the other is matte. I remember another thread where this was pointed out. Really the only way to be sure anymore is to have a DMR slip.

[EricDent1]

I often see examples of anime bootlegs at Half Price Books.
Usually they have Chinese lettering on the back, have kinda obvious inferior packaging, and are usually region free.
In the past I would try to alert a worker at the store in question, but it was often a moot point cause less than a week later, it was back on the shelf.

[oilers73]

Bootleg, or counterfeit? There's a difference.

[smithb]

Originally Posted by oilers73

Bootleg, or counterfeit? There's a difference.

You are right. What I've been primarily referencing found on ebay and Amazon marketplace are counterfeits, not bootlegs. Good catch.

[shinobipopcorn]

Originally Posted by smithb

You are right. What I've been primarily referencing found on ebay and Amazon marketplace are counterfeits, not bootlegs. Good catch.

Yup, this is a counterfeit:



and this is a bootleg:



Moo...

[ilikepie3326]

something that told me that some of the things that i bought (yes, unfortunately it happened more than once. never again, ebay...) is using MakeMKV, it will notify you that "the disk were created using MacTheRipper, and might have issues, etc." I got it both times i put in bootleg copies of DVD's. granted, I don't know if this is foolproof, but I figured that I would apply it here, since makemkv is free, and can scan for stuff like that too

[metsfan1545d]

there getting really good at this

bought the complete series of the jeffersons and it was sealed in shrink wrap with artwork on the discs, inserts and all sorts of stuff the retail version would have but when i put them in the computer sure enough all single layer with no copy protection or region coding

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

there getting really good at this

bought the complete series of the jeffersons and it was sealed in shrink wrap with artwork on the discs, inserts and all sorts of stuff the retail version would have but when i put them in the computer sure enough all single layer with no copy protection or region coding

eBay is littered with bootlegs. You've gotta be careful about who you buy these sets from. If they are using stock images and copy & paste descriptions, I'd steer clear.

[metsfan1545d]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

eBay is littered with bootlegs. You've gotta be careful about who you buy these sets from. If they are using stock images and copy & paste descriptions, I'd steer clear.

is this some sort of new phenomenon?

ive only recently gotten back into buying physical media and i dont remember it being littered with this many bootlegs

this is like the 4-5th bad set of a series ive bought in the last few months

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

is this some sort of new phenomenon?

ive only recently gotten back into buying physical media and i dont remember it being littered with this many bootlegs

this is like the 4-5th bad set of a series ive bought in the last few months

Only in recent years has it gotten to this level. You used to be able to look at those crappy Asian bootlegs and immediately tell that it was a bootleg, but not anymore. They're producing 1:1 bootlegs which the average buyer would never question.

[GreatGreg]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

there getting really good at this

bought the complete series of the jeffersons and it was sealed in shrink wrap with artwork on the discs, inserts and all sorts of stuff the retail version would have but when i put them in the computer sure enough all single layer with no copy protection or region coding

I don't think, based on what you've said, you can derive that this was a bootleg. Sometimes TV series are re-released on single layer discs to save on costs, and they usually are a lot cheaper than their original releases.

Not to say that bootlegs aren't rampant. They are. But based on what you said above, it doesn't mean that it's bootleg.

[GreatGreg]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

Only in recent years has it gotten to this level. You used to be able to look at those crappy Asian bootlegs and immediately tell that it was a bootleg, but not anymore. They're producing 1:1 bootlegs which the average buyer would never question.

Sometimes the bootlegs are even improvements from the original in terms of packaging or artwork.

In fact, some bootlegs are indistinguishable from the originals because they can be simply extra stock manufactured from the same factory as the originals.

In China of course.

[L.J.]

Bought a bootleg blu on ebay once. Put the disc in the player and it wouldn't play. It was suppose to be new and had no plastic cover over the case. Cover art look like it was printed at home on regular paper. looking at the disc it had a stick on label. Contacted the seller he refunded my money.