I used to go to a lot of Record shows and as time progressed, there were less and less dealers selling vinyl and more and more selling bootleg videos and CDs. One time I get to the show and the doors are locked and there is cop cars everywhere. The cops came and shut down the show and arrested a bunch of the dealers for selling bootlegs. I hoped that it meant there would be less of them in future shows but all it meant was the dealers stopped coming and the shows were sparse until a few months later when their bravery returned. Eventually I stopped going because it was a big waste of time to go looking for anything but bootlegs.

That long winded tale was a lead-in to say that I'm surprised it took this long to have something like this happen and while you can aruge the merits of bootlegs all day, it is the law and selling them is illegal. Personally I have no problem with people swapping such things with each other in an attempt to get things on a DVD they can't just go out and buy, but I am against the people who sell and profit off these things when they had nothing to do with creating the stuff and the people who do get nothing.

Well said. It would really bother me if I went to a record show expecting to buy... you know... RECORDS, and every table was full of bootlegs instead. That said, I go to a 3-day comic show every year, and if it weren't for the bootleg DVDs, I'd go nuts because I'm not that much of a comic fan. Still, I can see that true comic fans would be really pissed if they came to buy comics and there were more bootleggers than comic book dealers.

I know a lot of people look at this as a black-and-white issue, but if I may, let me point out the things that REALLY annoy me:

1) Dealers who are selling bootleg DVD-Rs of movies currently in theaters that you know DAMN WELL will be on DVD inside of six months.
2) Dealers who keep selling DVD-R bootlegs of cartoons that have either already been released, or are going to be released the following week.
3) Dealers who keep selling "complete collections" of a six-season cartoon show where seasons 1-4 have already been released, the latest of which was a very recent release, so you know seasons 5 and 6 are coming (I'm not talking about anything specific, but that situation happens often).

With so much stuff that's yet to appear on DVD, it would be in everybody's best interest for bootleggers to stick to stuff you actually can't get any other way. Unfortunately, the "pirates" who are just after easy money know that Disney titles sell well and the people buying them are the least likely to know or care that they're getting a bootleg.

I've often wondered what the result would be if a customer were to just start opening the items and destroying the discs. What are they going to do, sue you? Sure, take a person to court and tell a judge that you're suing them for destroying bootlegs that you were trying to sell.

I don't sell them, but if I did, my reply to you would be: that would be a good way to get your ass kicked in the most heinous way I could possibly imagine. Your wrists would be broken by the time you got to the 3rd disc or so. Take me to court...from a wheelchair. If you don't like 'em, don't buy 'em.

But I'll buy them, and I like them (and I don't copy & re-sell them). Don't stop me from enjoying the stuff.

Christ, bunch fuckin' Nazis out there.

How about getting a custom made T-shirt (preferrably black with white lettering) emblazoned with the words, These Discs Are Bootlegs!!. Walk up and just browse not uttering a single word. ;) Hey, pair up with a buddy and take shifts. I wonder how many customers they'd get then.

Have the lettering on Front & Back for maximum effect.

:lol:








don't forget to wear a richard nixon mask.

Damn, don't you think that everyone who buys every Beatle bootleg that comes out already has the entire catalogue of legit stuff, and simply wants MORE? And even when/if the stuff were to come out eventually on a legit label, they'd buy those too? KISS just got me to shitcan a great deal of bootleg VHS stuff that I'd kept for years when they released KISSOLOGY, Vol. 1; I gave one of the tapes to a friend who's a casual fan, the rest were tossed. Who needs 'em? They're available from a legit source! THAT IS ALL THAT WE, THE FANS, WANT...AND DEMAND. If we can't get the 1960's Marvel Comics Cartoons we want from Wal-Mart (or Best Buy, or Circuit City, etc.), but they're available from a bootleg seller at the local comic-con, so be it. Leave people the hell alone to enjoy what they want.

I do not condone the pirating of items that are already out, or have a date announced, or even have someone from their camp who says that they're "coming out soon!" But, shit, I like early stuff by Cheap Trick. I own a DVD of at least one show from each of their first 10 tours. And compilations of TV appearances from each year. But I own all the legit stuff the group released from that time period as well. Who does this harm, considering that were CT to release "CheapTrick-ology, Vol.1" which included any of this stuff (not necessarily all of it), that all of their fans would buy this?!?!?

People need to get over themselves, for Christ's sake.

You apparently don't get it; WE KNOW THEY'RE BOOTLEGS, that's why we buy 'em. You could give out FREE fucking shirts, and not one person would care, except maybe people you dragged out to the show with you.

i doubt that most people who buy bootlegs don't know any better....most just don't care (including myself) i'm not going to pay good money for things readily available through the regular channels, but I have/will buy stuff that I can't get my hands on, and never will.

Star Wars Holiday Special
Song of the south
monster squad
night of the comet
the wonder years
batman (adam west)
zatoichi 14
halloween 6 producers cut
Corman's fantastic four
BraveStarr
Futureworld

all of which are not available in the public market. If they ever become available I would love to replace the sub par boots with a regular dvd, but until then I'll hold on to what i have. The only way to curb bootlegging is to make the titles available. Every convention i have ever been to had Star Wars bootleg dvds until the newest edition came out...since then, they have all but dissapeared.

I don't understand people who pay for videocamera copied boots of new movies still in theater, or readily available series...but honestly I don't see much of that, other than the guys selling off the old stock at a discounted price

Another good example; I have owned/currently own every Godzilla movie currently released in R1 (and many from other regions). But I also own a large selection of Godzilla bootlegs as well (thank Gawd for eBay!).

I'm ok with people buying that type of stuff and I understand it perfectly. Heck, I've downloaded all sorts of unreleased stuff over the years. The bootleggers that piss me off are those who have sealed DVDs of various popular titles and new releases and Disney stuff and come across as legit to the average consumer who just happens to walk by, like at a flea market or a jockey lot. To many, they wont even know that they aren't buying the real thing, and for many of those people they actually do care and feel cheated when they eventually find out, or they're told, that what they actually bought was a bootleg from a goof.

I've actually let people know that they are looking at bootlegs in situations like that, and they thanked me and didn't buy anything from them.

How is that a good example? Just because YOU would replace a bootleg with a
legit release doesn't mean everyone else would. There are far too many folks
that are happy to just stick with the boot.

I doubt that highly. Every fan I know personally, of every genre that I know, would CHEERFULLY replace their old boots with legit releases, were they to become available. We are the norm, NOT the exception. Just ask around; you'll find out I'm right!

A possible exception would be that if the actual source material sucked so bad on the boot (and was from a near-original source), that no one gave a shit about getting a legit release. Example: Van Halen live in Argentina, 1982. I own the bootleg VHS; their performances are so bad, it's no wonder this'll never see the light of day legitimately, and I'd probably pass if it did.

Doubt all you want, I can cite the exact opposite whereby those I know have
stated (and shown) that they wouldn't/won't replace their boots with legit
releases. Why pay for something they already have when that money could
go towards something they couldn't download is a common reason. I'm not
saying you yourself, nor your friends wouldn't, but to say that that's the norm?
No way.

You, my friend, have a severe mental problem.

Lighten up, Francis.

We have two big comic/sci fi/collectors shows here in Orlando every year, the FX Show in January and Megacon in Febuary. Last year there were tons of bootleg DVD people at both shows. Bootlegs of the new Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica were big sellers last year. I picked up a lot of rare stuff myself... I love classic cheesy sci fi TV and got Voyagers!, Automan, Star Maidens, Otherworld, the Man from Atlantis, Jason of Star Command, Fantastic Journey, old WCW Monday Nitros and various sci fi movies that you can't buy on offical DVD. I don't mind fans trading rare material that will most likely never be released on DVD or even charging a small price for thier time to make it, but the thing I don't understand is how much they want for the stuff, I know a booth can cost a lot of money at these shows, but $20 of the Star Wars holiday special or $30, $40, $50, $60 for a bootleg season set that you copied on your computer last week? come on.

I've thought about running off my own copies of these TV shows, printing up some fancy covers, getting a booth at the next con and undercutting all the bootlegers 50% or more.

At the cons, I always look around on Saturday and find what I want and offer a silly low price, (I'll give you $20 for this DVD set you have priced $50) they always laugh and say no, but when I come back at the last minute sunday night they always take me up on the offer.

I also love how the bootleg covers are made to look like R2 or Imports, like they are fooling anyone.

No, it's you with the problem. Come up to a sales booth at a show and commit a violent act in view of the seller and you'll get an immediate and violent response...as you should, were you to do something so stupid.

I've beaten a man's ass more than once for kicking a dog. If people that like to kick dogs knew that someone like me was gonna be right behind them, watching, waiting for them to kick that dog so that their face could be ground up, maybe there'd be less cruelty to animals.

Grow up, Francis.

I can understand the sympathy for a dog, but the way you stated your
feelings don't exactly help prove him wrong. As for the DVDs, they're an
inanimate object and taking a few bucks away from a bootlegger who
has no right selling the discs to begin with in no way compares to the
(defenseless) animal cruelty comparison.

first of all, i am a bootleg buyer, of rare or unreleased stuff...BUT it would be nice to to a convention and find legit DVDs from other regions. the Pittsburgh Comicon and Monster Bash are both filled with bootleg dealers, no one legit.

i would love to see a company like Xploited Cinema set up a booth at one of these cons, but why would they? they would be selling a legit R3 DVD for 35 bucks and a dealer across from him would have a burned copy of the same DVD for 20 bucks, 3 for 50.

Sounds like you should take your own advice... you're the one playing the role of "I'm going to beat your ass, I'm the internet tough guy."

When you can stop fantasizing about how much of a tough guy you are and can act like an adult and have a mature conversation, check back in with me, ok?

<i>Mod note: I think it's about time to wrap up this "conversation" </i>