Optical Disc Piracy

What Are Optical Discs
Optical discs were initially developed by Philips Electronics for the storage and playback of digital music and were first released in 1982. Known as Compact Disc or simply CD, this format quickly revolutionized the music industry and has impacted the computer industry as well with the development of the CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory).
Video Compact Disc or VCD is an extension of this same technology and was developed by Philips Electronics and JVC in 1993. This format, which has become popular mainly in Asia, allows for up to one hour of full motion video and 2 channels of digital audio to be contained on one 12 cm disc (two discs are required for most Hollywood movies). The discs can be played on VCD players, computers equipped with a CD-ROM drive and some models of DVD players.

Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc, known simply as DVD was launched initially in 1996. At the time, several groups were independently developing higher capacity disc formats.

With the @ssistance of the movie entertainment industry, Sony, Philips, Toshiba and Time Warner came together and agreed on an international standard that has become known as DVD.

The DVD is the same diameter as the CD (12 cm) but, by using a laser with a shorter wavelength of light, the storage capacity of one layer is greatly increased. In order to accommodate two hours or more of full motion video on a single disc, a dual layer structure is used, read by two different laser wavelengths.

This increased storage capacity allows for additional features such as enhanced Multilanguage soundtracks and digital surround sound encoding.

Identifying Pirate Optical Discs
Optical discs can be identified as being pirated through three characteristics;
1. Date Of Release

Film distribution in its various forms follows a schedule of release mandated by each of the individual studios. In general terms, if a DVD or VCD is available while a motion picture is still in first theatrical release, it is likely to be a pirated product.

If in doubt as to whether the product has been officially released, contact a CMPDA representative who will be able to give you the necessary information.

2. Physical Attributes

The inferior quality of printing on the disc surface, jewel case inserts (VCD) and slip-sleeve cover (DVD) as well as the lack of original artwork and missing studio and distributor logos on discs and packaging are usually a clear give away that the product is pirated.

3. Content

Viewing a suspect VCD/DVD can also provide valuable information as to the legitimacy of the product. First generation pirate VCD copies of a film are sometimes cam corded in a cinema. These are easy to detect as the picture and sound quality is poor and audience noise can sometimes be heard.

Even when higher quality sources are used, there may still be clues that indicate the copy is pirated, e.g. the start and/or ending is truncated or screen characters and/or artwork generated by equipment used to make the copy is visible on the television screen.

Identifying DVDs
In addition to the previous information relating to optical discs in general, pirate DVD’s may be identified by the lack of the appropriate Region Code. One common error made by pirates is that they use the ‘ALL’ or ‘0’ code for the Regional Zone.
Legitimate DVDs manufactured for sale in North America will usually have either a symbol indicating zone 1 or will have this information specifically spelled out on the packaging.



It is a violation under Section 42(1) of the Copyright Act for any person to duplicate video products (videoc@ssettes, DVDs, VCDs, etc.) of copyrighted works for sale or rental. It is also a fraud violation under Section 380 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

 Dectecting Fraud Part 2.

I have been checking with some Legit Movie Distributors and they do not have prices that are anything like the prices listed on this site.

For brand new title pictures you can expect to pay maybe 30% less then the SRP- Suggested Retail Price. (But that still means for USD your prices are like $19.99-21.00) and for CND your prices are like $24.99-and up.) They are not selling brand new movies for $4.00 period.

You can go to some places and get older movies, discounted or overstock for really good prices, but then you have to look around. The real Distributors will also start to discount new releases after 4-6 months depending on the popularity of the film. (Then in that case you can also get fairly good deals.)

Also if you go to the studios they will tell you who they deal with, they will point you to their distributors.

Lastly, I have not yet come across 1 studio, not 1 who offer DVD's unwrapped in clear jacket sleves.

They all offer DVD's fully sealed in their original cases with inserts if applicable. They also region code because it's how they protect themselves from movies being p@ssed around too soon. Some are even adding an extra layer of protection to make sure their movies don't play in region free DVD players.

Maybe you can't avoid fraud 100%, but if the prices are too low, ask them the studios they work with, or the Studio Distributors they work with.

What region are the movies? (Region 0 is almost always a dead give away.)

Are they fully sealed with the cases, do they have the chapeter inserts, security seal, studio markings etc.

You may still run into a highly skilled fraudster, but with these guidelines your chances are better if you want to run a legit business.

If you don't want to run a legit business remember that if you are caught selling illegal materials you will be held responsible. (Customers do not like paying for pirated materials, unless you tell them that's what it is first.)

If you don't care then in that case there seems to be an abundence of this kind of supplier on this forum and then in that case feel free to knock yourselves out.