Illegit DVDs

[Thomas Veil]

Just a bit ago, my search for DVDs of a certain TV show took me to a site which has gotta be illegitimate, I think.

I'm not gonna name the place (don't want anyone thinking I'm promoting them), but they had complete series of shows that are available legitimately elsewhere (such as Babylon 5 or Newsradio, albeit in different packaging), as well as shows that haven't been officially released on DVD (The Magician, My Mother the Car, It Takes a Thief, etc.).

It just got me curious: I'm sure this business is located in a foreign country (probably China, and the bad English grammar is a giveaway in certain places), but...how good could their product be, and more curiously, where in the world did they find access to recordings of entire series that haven't even been on the air for over thirty years?

Frankly I was surprised they operate so openly and brazenly on the internet, but I guess they feel safe from U.S. prosecution, wherever they are. Just wondering where they even got the stuff. Industrious little counterfeiters, aren't they?

 

[spork183]

Let me guess, Russian based and they have original copies of "Yellow Submarine"?

 

[gkarris]

Many are here in the US.

A lot of this stuff aired on cable/satellite but is not available for release on DVD.

Some people recorded it, edited out the commercials, and released them on DVD.

They are called "bootlegs".

Sometimes, the copyright owners care, sometimes, they don't.

Simply put, if the copyright owners don't want bootlegging, they should release them legally...

"Jack of All Trades" and "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." are good examples...

Please support your favorite actors/actresses, movies, and shows by buying legal copies of DVD's!

(your avatar "Time Tunnel" is another example... in that case bootleggers used the LaserDisc..)

 

[SamIchi]

Well it's the internet, so anything is possible. If they're bootleg, I wouldn't count on great quality.

 

[kalisphoenix]

Often, tapes are leaked to bootleggers by people sick of bureaucratic B.S. holding up their beloved shows Or contracts prohibit distribution of a product in certain countries (like the US) but not in others (like Spain).

Take WKRP in Cincinnati, for example. The original series had a completely different assortment of music than that on the DVDs released in the states recently. It was impossible to receive permission to redistribute all that music again in a different form than the original broadcast, so it was replaced. Of course, there are bootlegs with the original soundtrack...

Or Twin Peaks, my favorite TV show, which only very recently (last month!) got released in its entirety on DVD in the States, but has been available elsewhere (like Spain) for years -- legally.

Or The Wonder Years...

 

[gkarris]

Well it's the internet, so anything is possible. If they're bootleg, I wouldn't count on great quality.

*Hypothetically* if the person used, say, a high quality capture device, a Mac, and digital cable/satellite, there are *hypothetically* DVD's that are BETTER than the studio release....

*hypothetically*...

 

[spork183]

*Hypothetically* if the person used, say, a high quality capture device, a Mac, and digital cable/satellite, there are *hypothetically* DVD's that are BETTER than the studio release....

*hypothetically*...

I don't buy the idea that someone with superior equipment can take an inferior signal and somehow make it better than the original. The only way to make it better than the original would be to take the original studio release and enhance it. It may be that I am confusing studio release with original release, however, why would the studio cripple their content quality so that someone sucking it off cable could get a better version?

 

[LethalWolfe]

Simply put, if the copywrite owners don't want bootlegging, they should release them legally...

"Jack of All Trades" and "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." are good examples...

Unfortunately it's not always as a simple matter. I'd wager there are contract disputes keeping those shows (and others) from DVD. Buying TV shows is a relatively new concept so when contracts were made "back in the day" and licenses procured, if only broadcast and syndication were covered then owners of the shows can't release them on DVD w/o securing the home video rights.

Another example of a "rights snafu" is for the live action movie version of "The Hobbit" where MGM/UA owns the distribution rights but New Line Cinema owns the production rights.


Lethal

 

[Thomas Veil]

There really were no good recording devices around in the 1960s, which is when My Mother the Car aired. And AFAIK it never aired in syndication -- it was considered a huge bomb. Only thing I can think of is somebody who had access to the actual prints dubbed them to tape and went into biz for himself....

Yeah, I wouldn't expect the quality would be very good, especially if these were recorded on VHS originally.

I have to agree that to some extent the studios bring this on themselves because they don't release legit DVDs. I came upon this site because I was looking for Night Gallery season 2, which is apparently still unavailable on DVD. I give these guys an "E" for effort...the packaging even looks similar to the official studio version of season 1.

 

[Counterfit]

I don't buy the idea that someone with superior equipment can take an inferior signal and somehow make it better than the original. The only way to make it better than the original would be to take the original studio release and enhance it. It may be that I am confusing studio release with original release, however, why would the studio cripple their content quality so that someone sucking it off cable could get a better version?

Well, I think it would depend on how good the official DVD is. There have been some really crappy legitimate DVDs put out.