DVDizzy Forum

There are lots of ways to tell, but perhaps it'd be easiest for you to link us to the eBay auction and have a look at the information, if it's still accessible online.

goofyestes wrote:Hi,
I bought a Brother Bear dvd from a seller on ebay in China. It has a skip or more like it freezes so I called the dvd replacement number. They think that it is a bootleg copy. How do you tell if it is legit or not?
Thanks!

Just lick the DVD, and if ink comes off on your tongue, then it's fake.

But seriously, the DVD replacement number will know for sure if it's a fake. So if they say it is, then it is. A large number of Disney DVDs from the Asian countries are bootlegs.

Chicky Mouse wrote:
Just lick the DVD, and if ink comes off on your tongue, then it's fake.

Hee hee hee heee.... You've inspired me.

Top 10 Ways to Tell If You Are Holding A Bootleg:
10. Bite into the disc. If it is chocolate, or some kind of delicious biscuit, it is fake.
9. The disc is square, and not the traditonal round shape.
8. The disc has some strange typos on it. For example, The Little Mermaid is the correct spelling. The Lite Marmaid is not.
7. The eBay seller has written "Haahahaha...sucker" on your eBay feedback.
6. Instead of the Disney hologram logo, there is a picture of Loomis.
5. Differences in sound quality. If instead of hearing "A Whole New World" you hear the rustling of chips and somebody giggling and commenting "That's so gross", you have a bootleg.
4. Instead of a amaray case, you have a brown paper bag.
3. Instead of cover art, someone has drawn a smiley face on the brown paper bag.
2. The smiley face only has one eye.
1. The disc has "Bootleg Edition" printed on the cover.

I wouldnt be surprised if that disk is bootleg. Check to see if the cover art is bright and well printed on hard type paper. Its either a asian region copy or bootleg but almost certainly not R1. And word of advise to others do not let the low price fool you...because most times you end up paying for crap. Hell I would stay away from dvds coming from China or in that region period unless you know for certain what your getting.

It is pretty easy they usually are not printed on the same kind of paper the authentic ones. And the Disc Arts arn't the same and if they say they have Chinese Subtitles that you can turn off that is an A1 way of knowing they are bootleg DVD Products. And before you buy anything you need to check to see if it is in print and get hold of a picture of an authentic one off Amazon.com and see if the one they advertise is the same. And beware when the pic they include is just a cut and paste from Amazon.com or some other website that usually means they are bootlegs. Their are a lot of other ways to tell also.

Disney Guru wrote:It is pretty easy they usually are not printed on the same kind of paper the authentic ones... Their are a lot of other ways to tell also.

.

Didn't Wolfie just say that?

And it is THERE, not their.

Repeat after me:

"This is THEIR bootleg DVD..."
"THERE is a bootleg DVD on that shelf"
"They're selling bootleg DVDs..."

Well you better leave some heavy negative feedback to the seller.
I would write an e-mail to E-bay to get that person busted!!!
That's why I never buy any DVD on E-bay.

Loomis wrote:Top 10 Ways to Tell If You Are Holding A Bootleg:

Very funny!

i think its better for people to stay off eBAY if they are buying a certain movie on DVD. most of those movies are just bootlegs.

Uncle Remus wrote:i think its better for people to stay off eBAY if they are buying a certain movie on DVD. most of those movies are just bootlegs.

For some of the OOP stuff, there is a danger. But eBay is a lifesaver sometimes. I bought almost all of the first two waves of Treasures on eBay, as they were obviously harder to forge than the others.

But I got so tied up in sorting through bootlegs when looking for Mulan and Jungle Book, I gave up.

I've never had a bad eBay experience (knock on wood), and I've bought quite a few things. I guess you just have to choose your buyer carefully (if they have 2000 positive feedback points, they are likely to be reliable). If a buyer has 30 copies of The Little Mermaid, then that is a good indication they are bootlegs too (or else, the guy who bought them all in the first place is a bastard).

Any opinions on this one? He doesn't have multiple copies for sale, but he doesn't have a picture of the item either, just a stock photo.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWA:IT

Disney's piracy dept is very interested in eBay sellers who deal in these type of Asian imports. They view this as a major problem and are very serious about pursueing offenders. If you want to report the seller, Disney will keep your information confidential. The number for the piracy dept is 818 560-3858.

I don't know if it is authentic or not. Just because it has a stock photo on it doesn't mean it is a bootleg. I bought a April In Paris: On E-Bay Which Stars Doris Day, Ray bolger on Vhs for $5.98. The seller just put a Stock Photo on it but I bought it because that was a lot cheaper then most people were selling it for and It was an authentic copy with origional video sleeve in like new condition. So just do how you feel you should do on this item.

stitch79 wrote:Any opinions on this one? He doesn't have multiple copies for sale, but he doesn't have a picture of the item either, just a stock photo.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWA:IT

Based on his feedback, I would be okay on this one. I myself sell a lot of duplicate DVDs on eBay (I had duplicates of those with the 3-D covers), and take photos of them. I use stock and personal photos when listing.

stitch79 wrote:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWA:IT

Yup, it's too legit to quit!

Yes, I'd say it is good. The photo was just probably easier to post. As I said before, he has a triple-figure feedback so he is certainly reliable.

Not a bad price either!

Bid with confidence!

PhilMo wrote:Disney's piracy dept is very interested in eBay sellers who deal in these type of Asian imports. They view this as a major problem and are very serious about pursueing offenders. If you want to report the seller, Disney will keep your information confidential. The number for the piracy dept is 818 560-3858.

Thanks for posting this. I'll keep it handy when I am flipping through EBAY.

hey i was wondering. do some bootlegs that come out have barcodes on them to make them look real?

Uncle Remus wrote:hey i was wondering. do some bootlegs that come out have barcodes on them to make them look real?

What on the covers or the disc themselves?

Most covers would be scans of the original, I assume. So yeah, they would have barcodes.

What an odd question...

Not all pirate DVDs use scans of the original and, yes, some do generate their own unique barcodes for their bootlegs!

In fact, in some countries you can only find pirate copies for sale in the shops as they don't deal in "over-priced" originals!

There are lots of pirate DVDs coming out of China which look authentic - heck, they even have holograms on them! I picked up Bambi and Cinderella from there to complete my Disney Animated Collection. Although not DVD quality they are pretty good and have obviously been mastered from laserdisc.

This was most apparent when I viewed a Chinese "Lady And The Tramp" DVD and found it was the original (unreleased on DVD) Academy ratio version and not the "pan and scan" DVD that we've had to put up with in Europe so far...

I've noticed a couple of ebay auctions are now putting UPC codes on the auction as well. Should I put more faith in these auctions? Is there anyway to verify that these "codes" are real?

Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it!