The insanity of DVD regions and copyright laws.

[PeteEU]

Okay we all know that movies are pirated world wide, it is not a shocker. But when the movie companies actually participate in the trade then one has to wonder.

Case in point.... the movie the A-Team.

Release date June 3rd to 11th in the US.
Release date in Spain and UK .. July 30th.

(above from IMDB)

Now the funny part is..... the DVD version was released in Russia (region 5) 2 weeks ago. How do I know this? Because it was out on the pirate dvd release sites a few hours after. So it is possible to get the movie online from pirates before it is released in the UK....

Now this is an extreme example, as usually movies do manage to get into cinemas in the biggest markets before they are released on DVD in Russia, but the fact remains, that the biggest pirate country on the planet is... you got it.. Russia. So why on earth do movie companies release their movies on DVD first in Russia, often weeks before they are even released in the US?

While taking down these movies is considered as piracy and stealing (in most countries), one has to ask the question.. if the movie companies are not participating in the piracy by releasing their movies first in markets that do most of the online piracy (and hacking), before they are released in the biggest markets? Is it not like leaving your door open and letting the thief into the house? Your insurance company would laugh at you when you asked for compensation... and the police would laugh also.

 

[Arcana XV]

My guess is that Russia became the number one country for DVD piracy precisely because of the fact they're released there first. Any region that gets the new releases first would become a piracy haven. The solution to that is to stop with the stupid regions and zones, to this day I still don't understand what they were thinking when they came up with this retarded system. Just release the stuff in all regions at the same time. In the age of the internet, it's the only logical thing to do.

 

[Travelsonic]

Okay we all know that movies are pirated world wide, it is not a shocker. But when the movie companies actually participate in the trade then one has to wonder.

Case in point.... the movie the A-Team.

Release date June 3rd to 11th in the US.
Release date in Spain and UK .. July 30th.

(above from IMDB)

Now the funny part is..... the DVD version was released in Russia (region 5) 2 weeks ago. How do I know this? Because it was out on the pirate dvd release sites a few hours after. So it is possible to get the movie online from pirates before it is released in the UK.

You gotta wonder, if they were really so hard pressed to curb piracy, don't you think they would realize that this discrepency [in release dates] could only help to agitate the issue?

While taking down these movies is considered as piracy and stealing (in most countries),

No, just piracy.

 

[Ikari]

You can always buy a region free DVD player. I know people who have those, mostly because they're huge anime fans and some stuff they can only get from Japan.

 

[Arcana XV]

You can always buy a region free DVD player. I know people who have those, mostly because they're huge anime fans and some stuff they can only get from Japan.

Yeah, I've got one of those. They're not illegal where I live (yet), but I hear they are illegal in some other countries.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Okay we all know that movies are pirated world wide, it is not a shocker. But when the movie companies actually participate in the trade then one has to wonder.

Case in point.... the movie the A-Team.

Release date June 3rd to 11th in the US.
Release date in Spain and UK .. July 30th.

(above from IMDB)

Now the funny part is..... the DVD version was released in Russia (region 5) 2 weeks ago. How do I know this? Because it was out on the pirate dvd release sites a few hours after. So it is possible to get the movie online from pirates before it is released in the UK....

Now this is an extreme example, as usually movies do manage to get into cinemas in the biggest markets before they are released on DVD in Russia, but the fact remains, that the biggest pirate country on the planet is... you got it.. Russia. So why on earth do movie companies release their movies on DVD first in Russia, often weeks before they are even released in the US?

While taking down these movies is considered as piracy and stealing (in most countries), one has to ask the question.. if the movie companies are not participating in the piracy by releasing their movies first in markets that do most of the online piracy (and hacking), before they are released in the biggest markets? Is it not like leaving your door open and letting the thief into the house? Your insurance company would laugh at you when you asked for compensation... and the police would laugh also.

I've read a story before about movie production studios purposefully releasing their works on torrent sites and the like to gauge movie goer turn out.

DVD regions are moronic, just another way to scam people out of money, using the law.

 

[PeteEU]

I've read a story before about movie production studios purposefully releasing their works on torrent sites and the like to gauge movie goer turn out.

DVD regions are moronic, just another way to scam people out of money, using the law.

They do, but it is too easy to spot them, as they often start with 40k+ seeders

But it is stuff like this case and many many others, that mean I have very very little sympathy when the rights holders come crying over people taking their product for free.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

They do, but it is too easy to spot them, as they often start with 40k+ seeders

But it is stuff like this case and many many others, that mean I have very very little sympathy when the rights holders come crying over people taking their product for free.

Totally agree, it falls into the reasoning of "you reap what you sow."

 

[PeteEU]

Totally agree, it falls into the reasoning of "you reap what you sow."

Exactly..

Oh and A Team rocks

 

[Hoplite]

It's still done because studios know they dont actually lose that much money to piracy. The vast majority of people I know who download will also buy a store copy of a movie if it's good. If it isnt, they watch it once then usually delete it.

 

[rathi]

DVD regions are anti-competitive bull**** that only exists because of blatant corruption and voter apathy. They are textbook case of collusion and price fixing, often condoned or even enforced by various governments.

 

[obvious Child]

I'd have no problem with DVD regions...if it wasn't illegal to make a home copy and strip out the region code.

DVD regions are little pests compared to the DMCA. That's evidence anyone over 30 should not be allowed to write technology laws. It's ILLEGAL to make an otherwise legal home personal use copy for yourself of DVDs you legally own.

 

[Hoplite]

It's ILLEGAL to make an otherwise legal home personal use copy for yourself of DVDs you legally own.

The justification is that purchasing a DVD doesnt mean you purchased the right to copy said DVD and if you dont like it, dont buy the DVD

Which, to me, seems absolutely idiotic. Such prohibitions have never been levied on any other consumer product...ever.

I think we need to enact laws similar to what Germany and several other EU countries have; purchasing software automatically guarantees the purchaser to make copies for personal use.

 

[obvious Child]

The justification is that purchasing a DVD doesnt mean you purchased the right to copy said DVD and if you dont like it, dont buy the DVD

No. The DCMA made it illegal to bypass the copyright technology for any reason. Including long held legal personal use. VHS manufacters won the legal fight where the Movie industry claimed effectively what the movie industry says about DVDs. Personal use has long been a legal right upheld. But the DMCA perverted that. Purchasing a DVD under fair use means you can make a legal personal copy. But the DMCA makes it illegal as the process to make that legal copy is in itself illegal. Screwy.

Which, to me, seems absolutely idiotic. Such prohibitions have never been levied on any other consumer product...ever.

I think we need to enact laws similar to what Germany and several other EU countries have; purchasing software automatically guarantees the purchaser to make copies for personal use.

Techically it's still legal to make copies under the DMCA. The problem is to make the copy you have to break the law as you have to bypass the encryption. So any DVD that doesn't have encryption can be copied without violation under the DMCA.

It's legal to make copies..but it's not.

 

[Hoplite]

This sort of legal limbo is an ideal situation for groups like the RIAA and MPAA because it prevents anyone skirting the rules because no one is quite sure what the rules are.

Sun Tzu would have been proud.

 

[obvious Child]

This sort of legal limbo is an ideal situation for groups like the RIAA and MPAA because it prevents anyone skirting the rules because no one is quite sure what the rules are.

Sun Tzu would have been proud.

Well, it's not really limbo. To make a copy of certain media, you have to bypass the encryption making your actions in making a legal copy illegal. All the RIAA and MPAA need to show is that you made a legal copy to prove you violated the DMCA as you can't make a legal copy without bypassing the encryption. What this allows is them to implausibly pass off as they aren't perverting fair use.

Now the question is if you buy a legal copy, download a copy without encryption in which you never violated and then burn the digital copy to DVD, is that a violation of the DMCA? You've made a personal fair use copy of an item you legally own without bypassing encryption.

 

[rathi]

Now the question is if you buy a legal copy, download a copy without encryption in which you never violated and then burn the digital copy to DVD, is that a violation of the DMCA? You've made a personal fair use copy of an item you legally own without bypassing encryption.

Except you have to obtain an unauthorized copy to do that, which is illegal for different reasons.

 

[obvious Child]

Except you have to obtain an unauthorized copy to do that, which is illegal for different reasons.

Ah, so you'd violate another set of laws but not the DMCA.