I wanted to revive this thread since I have some info. Was over at Ebay and found a useful guide on Disney bootleg DVDs; hope it helps some here who are still looking to purchase OOP Disney titles on Ebay. I also wanted to mention that my copy of the Snow White bootleg will be turned over to Disney "Legal" this week. I ran into Lella Smith, the director of the Animation Research Library, at the screening of TLM at El Capitan. I mentioned to her about my experience with the Snow White bootleg, as I would like to give her the DVD for the library. (It is an interesting artifact and a testament to what happens due to Disney's "limited release/back in the vault" policy.) She had never heard about Disney DVDs being pirated and found this to be most disturbing and asked me to give her the DVD so she can turn it over to the Disney Legal Department. I would imagine that Disney Legal is well-versed on the bootlegs, but perhaps something will come of it. So this week, I'll be dropping off the Snow White bootleg with her. (While discussing this bootleg with Lella, a couple sitting in front of us heard me and turned around to say they had bought the exact same SW bootleg on Ebay!)
Here is what I found posted at Ebay on spotting Disney bootleg DVDs. In my personal experience with the Snow White bootleg (well documented in this thread) I did not find most of the info helpful in terms of authenticating the SW DVD because the SW was of so high a quality that most of the "tells" he lists here did not apply. But this may be of value if you come across a lesser quality bootleg. (what's interesting is he never mentions to turn over the discs and check for Disney's serial numbers and bar codes - what is the first thing you do when something is lost or stolen? Look for serial numbers!):
When we consider non-authentic DVDs, there are three kind of DVDs
1) Bootleg DVD
2) Imported DVDs
3) Fake Region 1 DVDs.
Bootleg DVDs are the ones copied on DVDR discs which are usually homemade DVDs. Bootlegs are very easy to recognize by looking at the fake computer printed label and the non-standard playing/recording surface of the discs – usually purplish. Original DVDs have golden or silver color playing surface.
Most of the imported DVDs have foreign language prints on the cover art and the disc. So they are somewhat easy to figure out as well.
Fake Region 1 DVDs are the ones which are very difficult to recognize from the original. These are the latest type of illegal DVDs on eBay. They are made exactly like the originals/authentic with almost all papers works (duplicated) inside the case and sometimes including fake promotional stickers and even Buena Vista stamp on the shrink wrap! These are not handmade DVDs. I believe they are made in illegal factories outside US and imported here. Please note that they also come with fake security seals. So security seal or Buena Vista stamp is no longer the criteria to consider the DVD to be authentic. Unfortunately these kind of DVDs are hard to recognize. You may need to check some of the tips below to not get cheated by the fake/cheap Region 1 DVDs. But before that I like to point 2 things about fake Region 1 DVDs.
1) Fake Region 1 DVDs including the case are low in weight compared to the original DVDs. If you received a DVD compare with any other Disney or any other DVD you've purchased from store. You will see the fake DVD are slightly low in weight and low in physical quality.
2) Fake Region 1 DVDs have poor cover art and internal paper works. If you look at the fake DVDs carefully, you will see the prints on the cover art and fake chapter index/booklets are poorly printed - mostly faded prints compared to the original DVD cover art.
Unfortunately the above two items can be recognized only after you receive the fake DVD.
So to try to avoid buying such DVDs, please check the points below.
Few tips below which may help you to recognize at least the older type of fake/imported DVDs which are still available with many sellers.
- The DVDs which come with DVD9 print in a circle in front of the cover art of the DVDs are not authentic US edition DVDs.
- If you see Chinese, Malaysian, Korean... foreign language prints on the disc or case, they are not authentic US edition DVDs.
- Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs DVD was never released by Disney as single disc DVD in the US.
- Disney Beauty and Beast DVD was never released by Disney as single disc DVD in the US.
- Disney Sleeping Beauty DVD was never released by Disney as single disc DVD in the US.
- Disney Peter Pan, Peter Pan 2, Pinocchio, 101 Dalmatians, 101 Dalmatians 2, Jungle Book, Jungle Book2, Hercules, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 etc DVDs were never released by Disney as 2 disc sets in the US. So if someone describe these DVDs as 'This is a single disc DVD' in the description, it means the seller doesn't even know the history of those DVDs. And most of the time, all the Disney DVDs they have on sale including Snow White, Beauty and The Beast, Sleeping Beauty etc will be single disc DVDs which are fake.
All authentic US edition brand new Disney DVDs come with security on the top or side. Most of them also come with thick ink printed Buena Vista stamp on the back of the shrink wrap except some DVDs they distribute through Disney movie club. The best way to make sure the DVD you received is authentic is to compare with a corresponding original you might have purchased from a retail store. The fake DVDs come in low quality discs. It is somewhat easy to recognize even by comparing any of the original US edition DVDs. US edition DVDs have the highest quality - physical, video and audio.
How can you avoid purchasing fake DVDs?
- Check the feedback history of the seller. Try to buy from sellers with more feedbacks and check what the buyers wrote about the purchases. Please note that most of the buyers don't know how to verify fake DVDs. So, most of the buyers will leave positive feedback even if they received fake DVDs. So try to read more feedbacks. Avoid buying items from sellers who keep their feedback private.
- Check the location of the seller in the feedback details of the seller which is available next to the member’s join date 'Member since' column. Sellers registered from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines etc will not have authentic US edition DVDs for sale. Also check the date of registration of the seller in the same feedback history. If the seller was registered with the last 3 months, you may need to re-think about buying items from them. There are some sellers who get suspended every few months and create another account to sell same illegal DVDs. Beware of such sellers.
- Check how many copies of the out of print DVDs the seller has been selling. If the seller has sold too many copies of rare Disney DVDs, it won't be legitimate. You can check the items sold by the seller by clicking on 'Completed Items' check box while searching on the seller's items. The old rare out of print DVDs are always rare and hard to find.
This guide is updated on 08/29/2006.
I'm glad you've crossed over from lurkerdom as your first post illustrates you have a lot of good insight to share.
