The generic "Is this a bootleg" thread

[DrWho2002]

How can you buy stuff and not even realize what region it is? Are you blind?

[AvatarADV]

Originally Posted by Broccoli

No and no. There are exceptions.

Yes, but if you -know- that the particular product you're looking at is an exception, you're not here askin' if it's a bootleg. If you don't know (and are asking on a message board), then it's almost certainly a bootleg, with a certainty I'd bet large sums of money on in relative safety. ^_^

If it's coming from a source -outside- Japan, assume it's bootleg unless you happen to know specifically that it's not. If it's got specs that don't conform to the Japanese release, assume it's bootleg.

KJ, thanks for the excellent scans to point out the difference. I oughta smack those Manga Int guys, they pirate my work! (nothing worse than seeing your name in the credits of a bootleg, guys)

[Lord Raiden]

Originally Posted by DrWho2002

How can you buy stuff and not even realize what region it is? Are you blind?

No, I'm not blind. I am just one who assumes that something is R1 or R2 because of the places I get it from. It never really dawned on me to double check them to verify that they weren't bootlegs. Heck, if I do find a bootleg or two it'll serve me right. It wasn't until kj1980 said I was mistaken about having all R2's in my collection that I found out he was right and I had falsely assumed that I had been buying all R2's this whole time. So yeah, 95% of it is lazyness on my part and being too trusting of the places I buy from. I certainly won't be making that mistake again. Hence why I'm asking questions now. First mistake is on me. That's a freebee. I don't permit myself to make the same mistake twice. Professional courtesy to myself.

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by AvatarADV

KJ, thanks for the excellent scans to point out the difference. I oughta smack those Manga Int guys, they pirate my work! (nothing worse than seeing your name in the credits of a bootleg, guys)

No need to worry about seeing your name on a Manga Int. bootleg... Animation World Int. Ltd. is a different story. ^^:

/me is currectly scanning the covers of a bootlegged Noir boxset.

[Lord Raiden]

Could you guys please spoilerize the images. They're scewing this thread bigtime to where it's hard to read. Arigatoo. ^_^

[mashimaro_boy]

link removed

Is this a good place to buy Initial D dvds? I saw this webstore advertised at a Initial D forum. Their prices seem fair. I am trying to start my collection from 1st stage up to the latest 4th stage.

[GHDpro]

Number of disc(s) : 1
Encoding : 100% Region Code Free
Video : NTSC
Spoken : Japanese
Subtitle : English, Chinese
Price: $9.95

Above quote is from the website. I've highlighted the things that make this a 99% likely
chance of being bootlegs: region free, english & chinese subs and unlikely low price tag.

Although the 2 episodes per DVD count is actually very much like original Japanese DVDs,
just not at that price tag though and the fact that volume 2 (episodes 3+4) won't be out
in Japan until August -- http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVBA-14992
( that link IS a legit link for Initial D 4th Stage, but be aware: NO subtitles! )

Also, for Initial D 1st Stage, be sure the publisher mentioned is "TokyoPop" and
that it IS region 1 and contains no chinese subtitles. For example:
http://www.dvdpacific.com/item.asp?ID=76724
( er, actually this link makes the price tag argument a bit false )

[Tallica]

is it illegal to purchase chinese anime imports? just wondering cus a ton of places near me sell them so i was wondering cus they have a really good selection. from what my friends say they are not the same as bootlegs...so i don't see what the problem would be.

[Radd]

Originally Posted by Tallica

is it illegal to purchase chinese anime imports? just wondering cus a ton of places near me sell them so i was wondering cus they have a really good selection. from what my friends say they are not the same as bootlegs...so i don't see what the problem would be.

As far as I know it's illegal to sell bootlegs, but not illegal to own them. That could be wrong, but at the very least, I have never in all my 25 years heard of anyone ever getting in trouble for buying an HK bootleg.

As for these so-called 'chinese imports', if they have english subtitles, they're bootlegs. If they don't, then they're probably still bootlegs. Bootlegging isn't illegal in China from my understanding, and that is why it is so prevelant over there.

I find it personally distasteful to buy a bootleg of a legitimately available title, but if it's something not yet available in your county, it's on pretty much the same level as downloading a fansub.

[zalas]

Originally Posted by Radd

I find it personally distasteful to buy a bootleg of a legitimately available title, but if it's something not yet available in your county, it's on pretty much the same level as downloading a fansub.

Not exactly. Purchasing a bootleg item means someone is making money off someone else's work without permission.

[pandaman]

Is this bootleg:

http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept...section-anime/

It is being sold by YesAsia, a reputable and very large company i trust, pretty much in the same league as Amazon IMO... it is 15 VCDs with One Piece 1 - 30.

This set was released July 10, 2004... so not that long ago, is it bootleg?

[Somedude]

Originally Posted by pandaman

Is this bootleg:

<link removed>

It is being sold by YesAsia, a reputable and very large company i trust, pretty much in the same league as Amazon IMO... it is 15 VCDs with One Piece 1 - 30.

This set was released July 10, 2004... so not that long ago, is it bootleg?

The price alone prettymuch ensures that is a bootleg.

[pandaman]

Crazy, why is a reputable company selling bootlegs?

[Nico]

Originally Posted by outlaw55

and DVD-R :P don't hate on the minus >:F

hmm i've always wondered, what is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R?

and is one better than the other?

[zalas]

Originally Posted by Somedude

The price alone prettymuch ensures that is a bootleg.

I'd be tempted to say that also. The set comes from Mainland China, and also has Mandarin dialogue. Either it's legit, or it's a very organized bootlegging operation.

[teh_suck]

Originally Posted by zalas

I'd be tempted to say that also. The set comes from Mainland China, and also has Mandarin dialogue. Either it's legit, or it's a very organized bootlegging operation.

I think Yaoi Pocky would probably explain this better than I, being that I don't speak Chinese and she does, and thus my explanation of the contents of various documents is based on her translation, but here goes:
There is a legitimate Chinese publisher called 福建省文藝音像出版社, or (roughly) the Fujian Province Audio-Visual Arts Company. They are listed as the publisher for the One Piece set. However, the real Fujian Province Audio-Visual Arts Company put out a press release stating that a pirate group was making illicit use of their logo and forged signatures of their officers to distribute pirate media under the guise of legitimate media. One such press release had a list of all legitimate releases by the company. If you look at the traditional Chinese version of the YesAsia listing, you will see that the One Piece set is listed with an alternate title of (roughly) Intergalactic Heroes. This is the name of a product legitimately released by the Fujian AV Arts Co, but if you know anything about One Piece, you know that it has no relation to that show. In other words, we think this alternate title is an attempt by the pirate group to continue to sell their pirate wares through unaware merchants, and unfortunately YesAsia has been duped. Yaoi Pocky was going to send this information to YesAsia, but I'm not sure if she has yet. In the meantime, the press release by the real Fujian Prov. AV Arts Co is here: http://www.ccm.gov.cn/mediaMovieChan...sp?id=39&lm=gg
so if you want to confirm for yourselves that Kenshin, One Piece, Initial D, and Yu Yu Hakusho, among others, are not on this list, then send an e-mail to service@yesasia.com pointing out the URLs of the press release and of the suspicious items, and mention things like the suspiciously low price, the english subtitles, and the alternate title unrelated to the content of One Piece as reasons to believe that the items are being sold by the pirate version of the Fujian Co., not the legitimate one. Just one person doing this should be effective, but many people doing it should bring about faster results.

[zalas]

Hrm, in 海盗王 又名：星际勇士 , the first title IS appropriate for the series as it is "Pirate King", while the second title (the alternative one), 星际勇士 means Heroes of the Stars.
And yeah, 星际勇士 IS on the list, while 海盗王 isn't.
Oh well, I wonder how the bootleggers managed to convince yesasia that 海盗王 was星际勇士, even though it only says 海盗王 on the box :/

[teh_suck]

Originally Posted by zalas

Oh well, I wonder how the bootleggers managed to convince yesasia that 海盗王 was星际勇士, even though it only says 海盗王 on the box :/

It would only say 海盗王 on a legitimate box. The pirates are clearly printing their own box, so they could just have put whatever additional erroneous titles on it they wanted to.

[Nagi_Souichiro]

I found 2 different sites with the anime tenjou tenge dvd box sets. But each of them are different looking, I was wondering if you know which one is pirated and which one isnt, like if any of you people have one of these tell me if they are pirated or not.

link to bootleg removed

about the link above, does it have the ifrst 13 episodes?

link to bootleg removed

Please look for it under japanese anime and under T.

Please post back, i really want to get it but im cautious about which one to get.

[Kite]

Both of those are bootlegs