Disney Bootlegs? (Need Help)
 

Howdy! Need some help from you guys. I bought 5 Disney DVD's from this guy on Ebay (express_entertainment4u

Basically, a heat of the moment thing. Should have used my better judgment, but didn't. I bought The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio.

Just got them in today, and am questioning their authenticity. I need your help, guys!

They look pretty normal, even though they came in that hard plastic (cellophane?), rather than the normal plastic. I'm including pictures of each, and I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me out.

EDIT: Just noticed that I can't post images yet. If anyone thinks they can help me, I can email you the pictures. Please help me out!

I would be questioning it as well. Looking through his feedback, he seems to have a lot neutrals/negatives in the last couple months.

3 neutrals I am looking at, mention Disney movies. 1 says that he was expecting the same you can get at the Disney store, 2 others mentioned that they weren't sure if they were authentic.

Post pictures, I'm sure more people on the board will help you out.

Apparently, I can't post pics yet. My forum rules say "You may not post attachments."

If these are, in fact, bootlegs, how do I get my money back?

If you paid via paypal just let them know the situation. I have had a similar situation with anime (just like you I should have know better). I contacted paypal and told them about it and they gave the other party a week or so to refute the claim.Tere is an area on the paypal site to file a complaint and if i recall bootleg is an option. They didn't refute the charge and I got all of my money back (and got to keep a poor quality dvd as well) :)

If you didn't use paypal.......i don't know

Post a link to the photos, and not as a hotlink.

Yes, paid by Paypal. Hopefully, it will help.

Got a few more quick questions:

1. Is the insert for Pinocchio extremely glossy?

2. Some of the wrap-around covers have angled edges, some have curved. Can anyone verify if the covers I have are correct?
a. Little Mermaid = angled
b. Lady and the Tramp = angled
c. 101 Dalmatians = angled
d. Peter Pan = Curved
e. Pinocchio = Curved

3. The cases themselves are white, and have push button centers, not the ones like most regular cases. It's just one piece; a circular button that says "push" on it. Below the tray itself, the statement "Press center button to release" is written. It's not the two piece button like on most other DVD's. Is this correct for these releases?

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I appreciate it.

Hi,
This happened to me in the past on an Ebay auction as well. I politely informed the seller that it was a bootleg Disney dvd, that I wanted a refund and would even pay to ship it back. I also stated that I would provide negative feedback if they did not refund my money. The seller, whom had great feedback, was not aware of their dvds being bootlegs, and I informed them as to how to tell if a Disney dvd was bootleg or not. The way I could tell was that the dvd had languages like Thai and Chinese. Disney titles, to my knowledge, usually only have language tracks in English, French and Spanish at most. Those Ebay sellers that value their feedback will work with you. If they refuse to refund your money, and they already have lots of negative feedback, then you are likely out of luck. Unfortunately, the Disney dvds seem to be bootlegged a lot these days. Good Luck!

I have the Little Mermaid LI and the Pinocchio GC releases. Both inserts have the same amount of gloss (which is to say not much) and both have white keepcases with the two prong push in release thing. The covers both have the same corners, which is kind of a long curve. I believe I got both of them from the Disney Store.

Looking through their feedback I'd also question the authenticity of their Disney titles. It's stated in their auction description that contacting them within three days will suffice in order to receive a refund. They will not refund you for s/h charges however. I'd go ahead and contact them first. Live and learn...

Have you contacted the seller already? I'd do that before contacting paypal, often the sellers are worried about being reported and will refund if you ship back (insist on them paying return postage) if they agree.

If they dont offer your money back, go through paypal...Disney is also one of the few VERO members on ebay, after you get your money back contact Disney with the auction numbers...i've done this a couple times and the sellers usually get booted really quick.

Unfortunately, the majority of rare Disney titles on ebay are boots.

You should get the freeware program DVDDecrypter which can be used to check if a DVD has region code and if there is CSS encryption on the disk. Most bootlegs are all regions and have no CSS encryption.
Considering that those Disney Dvds are OOP unless you paid a premium for them on Ebay chances are you got a bootleg.
It also seems that Disney is supporting bootleggers by putting these popular childrens movies into Moratorium and OOP status thus creating a demand for counterfeiters. If these movies were still available to purchase at a local B&M store, ebay would have less bootlegs as it seems that the rare/oop movies are bootlegged the most.

Hello, some time ago, before Disney released Snow White on DVD, I saw on Ebay a guy offering Snow White on DVD. Intrigued I paid, and received my Snow White DVD, in a reasonable remastered version, with good picture/sound quality, BUT without any titles at either the beginning, or at the end of the movie, and the picture cover from the laserdisc remastered version ( which came originally in a lavish boxed set with posters and a book about the making of the classic movie, by Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley ) in other words without any reference whatsoever to Walt Disney on the packaging or on the DVD, it just says the classic movie but no mention of the Disney organisation! I wasn't too bothered at the time, as at least it meant that I had a perfectly good watchable copy of the film until the official version was released by Disney!
It looks as if it and these DVD's may have come from China or the Far East? Mine came from a warehouse in Hong Kong!

Looking at the feedback, I would guess it is a boot, and most people didn't care/couldn't tell that it was a bootleg. This also happened to me in the past, and I got my money back. The case and inserts were fine (although after seriously eyeballing, I could tell it was a reproduction), but the DVD itself was a total botch job with the printing. They actually spelled Disney wrong (and A instead of the E).

I really believe that there are a number of these people out there with excellent feedback taking advantage of unknowing buyers. When someone confronts them about their bootlegs, they claim ignorance, refund the money, and then continue to go on to sell their bootlegs to the next unknowing person.

It is a good boot, but still a boot. The seller knows it. I would just ask for a partial refund (or a full refund minus shipping costs) and keep the discs unless you really don't want them.

I've got to agree with you guys about them being boots. The two deciding factors are the odd cases with the push-button release instead of the two prongs, and the 90 degree angles on the edges of the covers, as opposed to the curved edges on normal releases.

Regardless, the Pinocchio and Peter Pan discs I received are immaculate, with curved covers and everything. Don't want to sound like I support boots, but these discs are amazing copies. They aren't even DVD-R's. The seller seems extremely confident about the authenticity of these. I'm sure know that they aren't, and I'm going to get my money back. This whole situation pisses me off because this guy is taking advantage of people. Just glad that you guys have been here to help me out once again. Thanks guys!

P.S. The seller charged me about $2.75 each for shipping, but the package itself was USPS Bubble Mailer that says it cost $1.59 and it was shipped Priority Mail for $5.05. Do you guys think that I can get my shipping cost refunded also?

Well, often times, if a discrepancy like that is pointed out, the seller says (a) handling charges and (b) you agreed to it when you bought it.

However, if he sold you a bootleg, there's no legitimate reason why you should even have to pay the shipping charges. You agreed to pay it, sure, but the implicit understanding was that he was *not* selling you a bootleg.

I would except nothing less than a FULL refund (including shipping) if you were sold a bootleg. The guy is selling illegal merchandise and pawning it off as legit. Why should you pay a dime for that crap?

bah i stopped buying dvds from people with more than 1000 feedback on ebay. It may seem stupid but if i see someone with like 10 and up positive ill bid on a dvd.. reason why is these bastards with more than 1000 feedback are selling bootleg dvds in masses I have gotten about 5 boots so i realized id better go with lower feedbacks because they arent selling boots in massives rather just selling their personal collections. Usually bootleg dvds have DTS writen at the top of the dvd and come with no insert also you can tell by the dvd how its printed. just remember if u see DTS in red at the top of the dvd and has no special features just some stupid crap its bootlegged.

Authentic Disney Region 1 North American releases have the blue "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" stamp on the shrinkwrap along with a pic of the Disneyland logo, blue as well. If this
logo and stamp is not on the shrinkwrap I would return for a refund.

That's my opinion,

Cheers

Once again, thanks again guys. You're the best!

Please get your facts right before making such sweeping statements. DVDs with Thai and Chinese tracks ARE NOT NECESSARILY BOOTLEGS!!! Where do you think the Thai and Chinese tracks come from? You think the pirates actually made the effort to hire voice actors to re-record the whole movie, mix in the sound and produce a dolby 5.1 track????

Please people, I've read many posts and many ppl say that asian DVDs are bootlegs. WHICH IS NOT TRUE!! Disney also has official distributors in Asia, with customised language tracks for each country. South East Asian DVDs are coded in Region 3. We here also get authentic Disney R3 DVDs with local language tracks. Packaging, inserts, covers etc are locally printed and would of course differ from R1 versions. Official disney DVDs here would have the disney hologram on the cover.

Yes, there are bootlegs in asia, and yes, there is a possiblilty that what you have ordered may be a bootleg, but that does not mean that ALL DVDs IN ASIA ARE BOOTLEGS.....

peace.

Not buying from a seller with 1000+ feedback, but buying from one with 10 feedbacks or less? That makes no sense whatsoever. 90% of the fraudsters and bad guys on Ebay register a new name and run it up with fake feedbacks initially before starting a quick fraud or bootleg operation.
If a seller has 1000 feedbacks then they are on EBay to stay and don't want to be suspended. If they sell bootlegs it WILL SHOW UP IN THEIR FEEDBACK PROFILE. You can't sell lots of bootlegs, do hundreds of auctions, and not have a certain percentage complain. Just check their feedback. Large sellers usually don't sell bootlegs, especially over the last 12-18 months as Ebay has really cracked down. If the seller is outside the USA they may be able to bootleg easier and get away with it long-term. If they do, turn them in and then Ebay will suspend them. Ebay throws people off real fast if they have proof of bootlegs or multiple reports of bootlegs sent in by buyers. Just let them know.
I fully recommend on Ebay following 3 basic rules.
RULE #1: Buy from sellers inside the USA.
Rule #2: Check the feedback rating and quickly pull down and scan the last 200+ feedbacks left on a seller.
Rule #3: Use Paypal for all payments and resolve any issues within 30 days of payment being made.
No worries then.

Forgive me, but this makes no sense... you will bid on an item from someone with 10+ feedback, but not someone with thousands of satisified customers?

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually look at the feedback itself, rather than focusing on a number? If the person has 1000-2000 feedback, and only 1 or 2 negatives, there is NO WAY they are selling bootlegs. You're going to see dozens and dozens of negative and neutral comments if someone is doing that.

Are you 100% certain about the stamp?

Cuz I have a few Disney DVD's that I've bought from various B&M stores that don't have the stamp on them.

Not everything has a stamp with every title in every store. That Disney stamp and security wrap insure that the item is offical Disney product, but for a number of reasons titles sometimes don't have the stamping. They should however be factory sealed and have a seal with the name and title on top.

I have only bought the following Disney product:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 2 Disc
Jungle Book Limited Issue
Lady and the Tramp Limited Issue
101 Dalmations Limited Issue
The Little Mermaid Limited Issue
Mulan Limited Issue

All had the blue stamp and artwork on the shrinkwrap.

Sometimes it's hard to find but it's there.

Again, my opinion only, but if I'm buying a Disney product am definitely looked for some sort of logo or stamp on the shrinkwrap.






Cheers

I was going through my collection today, flagging all my dts movies and checking them in my player to determine if they were dts-es or not, and I came across Atlantis: The Lost Empire CE. I threw it in, and no dts to be found. The back says dts, but it's not on the disc, and also the main menu looks pretty cheap. I got this at a flea market over a year ago, so I'm not doubting that it's probably a bootleg. However, this prompted me to look at the rest of my Disney titles that I have bought used over the years, mainly at flea markets and used stores, never on ebay.

I have several titles that I'm questioning their authenticity. It seems that most (if not all) of my legit Disney releases that I've bought new have a 'rough' feel to the actual disc, and sometimes part of the disc art will be raised, or glossy. Several of my titles that I bought used are not like that, and I was wondering if that is a sure-fire way to determine a Disney bootleg. I've ran them through DVDDecryptor, and it seems they all have the some type of CSS, so I'm rather confused. Any help would be appreciated.

I have always been suspicious of supposed Disney products being bootlegs. There are just so many of those bootlegs out there. It is really ridiculous. Luckily, I have been able to purchase all my Disney discs at a B&M location - eithre Best Buy or the (overpriced) Disney store that used to be in town. A friend of mine got a bootleg "Little Mermaid" off Ebay though...Go figure. The things are rampant on there.

I have the limited editions for all five listed above and each have rounded corners. They look like this http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/8175.jpg (click for larger image)

1. My insert isn't very glossy and has the number E3260 toward the bottom on the back of the insert. Mine also came with an official Mail-in certificate (get 2 free disney dvds when you buy all 9 or get 1 free when you buy 5) and has a number of E4273 toward the bottom after the legal mumbo-jumbo. Back around 1999/2000 Disney seemed to assign an Exxxx number to cover art, inserts, mail-in rebates, disc art, disc, etc. Over the years disney has also used F,G,H,I, and J. Logically, it looks like Disney used E in 1999, F in 2000, G in 2001, H in 2002, I in 2003, and now J in 2004.

2. If you look on the non-artwork covered side my copies are showing the following holographic numbers around the rims (some may be mirrored because you can see both sides of the disc. "/" is being used as a seperator and isn't actually on the disc):

a. (E4326) E4399 L0 / (E4327) E4399 L1 (mirrored)
b. C3.2 150707-04 / E3504
c. C3.2 149872-03 / E0996
d. C3.2 150700-03 / E3494
e. C3.2 150233-01 / C3.2 150234-01 (mirrored) / E3258

All except The Little Mermaid also show "NIMBUS/CA" on the clear inner ring.

When assigning disc ids in DVDProfiler 2.3.1 I'm showing the following

a. (MERMAID) [3C6C11DCEE5A3415]
b. (LADYTRAM) [9CC534958068A363]
c. (101DALMS) [DC759A239748A6D9]
d. (PETERPAN) [2AAA4305351F3ADA]
e. (PINOCHIO) [277166E53D4057E8]

3. All of mine came in white cases with the original Amaray design.

I've got a couple Disney dvds that I'm unsure of as far as their authenticity goes. When I was going through my collection one day, I noticed that my Atlantis 2disc specified dts on the back and in the menus, but wouldn't actually go to dts, so I know that that is a bootleg. I picked it up at a flea market a couple of years ago.

I have quite a few Disney dvds and I noticed that most of the actual discs have different textures to them, and usually the white text is raised. The titles I own that do not have this type of disc are:

The Aristocats
The Great Mouse Detective
Peter Pan: Return to Neverland
Treasure Planet (the white text is raised, but the rest of the disc is not "textured")

I don't remember where I picked these up, except for Peter Pan, which I know I also got at a flea market (different vendor, if I remember correctly). If anyone has these titles, and wants to look at the disc and see if what I described matches theirs, that would be really helpful.

Thanks

I buy lots of DVDs from Half.com a Ebay sub. I never even thought about some being Boots. Several came without inserts and that pissed me off but I let it slide. The used ones I get from the video store often don't have inserts so I guess I was just use to it. Thanks I will keep my eyes open now.

I have a problem with both of those quotes. Yes I know this is from last year, but still. I look on eBay all the time, and there are tons of people who offer bootleg DVDs with either perfect feedback, or pretty darn close to perfect. Many of these guys have 1000+ feedback also.

There are some damn good bootlegs out there, and to many people who buy them off of eBay they wouldn't even know it when they get it in the mail. So as a result of that, they leave perfect feedback because they think everything is fine. Some of these guys who offer bootlegs even make it perfectly obvious to those of us who know the warning signs, and I think some of them do it on purpose. It keeps those of us who WOULD leave a negative away from their auctions, and those who don't know the difference will just leave them yet another positive.

This is a huge problem on eBay right now, and as far as I can tell eBay isn't doing anything at all to stop it. The folks at eBay are either just stupid, or they just flat out don't care since they get money regardless.

OK, I am looking into buying some Disney Treasure Tins and wondered if those have boots floating around on eBay? Also has Sleeping Beauty & Fantasia Anthology been widely booted yet?

The problem with the tins is that there were some legit non-tin releases of the Disney Treasures. I'd read the descriptions very carefully before checking out the seller... but, being eBay, it's still a crapshoot.

I'd check the Exchange Forum here. That is where I picked up my copy of MMILC wave 1. I paid about the same as eBay but it was from a long-standing forum member. He gave a very accurate account of the condition and I knew I could trust him.

I have attended the Ebay Live conference and had talks on this issue. Ebay is being much more proactive with the bootleggers. They are kicked off all the time. In my posting you quoted above I had 3 EBay rules. One of the rules was to look at the feedback, one to pay using Paypal, and the other to buy from only USA sellers.
I challenge you to name an Ebay seller (that resides in the USA) that is ACTIVELY selling lots of bootlegs, has over 1000 feedback, and it doesn't show up in their feedback profile. I don't believe you can find a seller that meets that description.

Ebay is a great place. People just need to use common sense. I'd be happy to take a look at some sellers names or specific titles that are heavily bootlegged. Many have been elimintated over time. Once notified EBay takes care of it pronto.

Ways bootleggers get around ebay rules are: ebay doesn't investigate claims on weekends so list item as 3 day auction over the weekend. There are not actual people monitoring the auctions. Ebay has filters that look for specific words in the title or description. If you word the auction the right way you can avoid being detected.

It really depends on what you mean by "doesn't show up in their feedback profile." Common sense indicates that someone who uses only private auctions is bootlegging, but most people don't know this. Take this bastard for example:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...id=alldvds2003

He is clearly running a bootlegging operation and doing quite well for himself.

This bastard is also bootlegging, although with "only" 658 feedback score, doesn't quite make your requirement.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...serid=daysdeal

Here's another running the private feedback scam:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...rid=jedsdvds4u

This son of a bitch is at 612 with 99.2% positive, selling obvious bootlegs and keeping his feedback open.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...erid=sweetpack


I found these examples in exactly 2 minutes of searching. If you don't believe there is a systemic bootlegging issue on ebay and that they are turning a blind eye to it, then there is nothing that will convince you.

You can always sell a bootleg here or there, 1 or 2 or 5. But that doesn't make a business.
None of these sellers is doing a huge business with bootlegs (or even a medium size one). Most have only a couple of dvds up for sale. One sold mostly shoes. One had 11 feedbacks in the last month. You are right and 2 of them are private (an immediate tipoff that all is not right with this seller, or buyer for that matter).

The bottom line is that no buyer should ever be taken on EBay because of bootlegs. Use common sense and buy what you want. Use Paypal to get your money back if needed.
I just hate seeing all the anti-Ebay sentiment, when most of the info is incorrect. Ebay is more worried about fake Rolexs, fake purses, total scams, etc. than a perfect bootleg that a buyer actually likes (and I can't blame them for that). It is a priority, but not at the top. They can't monitor millions of items immediately coming online without help from the community (and Ebay certainly DOES MONITOR AUCTIONS ON WEEKENDS). There is staff on hand 24 hours a day for EBay in all areas at this point. That is a myth that Ebay has no reason to try to stop. What a bootleg seller wants is a buy it now, which gets the item out of the search engine immediately (or 3 days at most to lower their chances of being caught or turned in).
If buyers or other EBay members notify Ebay of scammers or bootleggers they WILL BE SUSPENDED. Ebay is partially monitored by the community (meaning the rest of us sellers and buyers).

Almost every major bootlegging operation on Ebay has been shut down. It doesn't work any more. If it did and you could make lots of money on it, many people would do it. People can always do one here, one there. But it is no longer a business model as it was on Ebay from Year 1 (1995) to about Year 8 (2003). Then they stopped it, but the fight is ongoing.

I can't believe any sane person could say e-bay is trying to stop bootleggers. I just went on there and did a search for "Springsteen DVD" and I would bet 90% of the listings are bootlegs. I picked one auction out randomly and clicked to see the sellers other auctions, he had 53 auctions going every one of them a bootleg DVD.

I got one of the automatically generated emails from ebay like a month ago that said don't buy or sell off ebay, in reference to a question that I had asked a seller. I emailed ebay back & complained that I had to email almost every seller who was selling a dvd I was interested in to see if it was R1, because a lot of them are selling asian dvds. Ebay just wrote back saying that they always send those emails out & they never even commented on my complaint.

Plus someone tried to get me on the nigerian net scam, but I recognized it. ebay refunded the final value fees, but not the original fees. It was impossible for me to relist it free, because I had listed it during an ebay promotion & now it would have cost me twice as much.