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Posted

It's about time.

I guess someone figured out that telling fans "friends don't let friends buy bootlegs" was a ridiculous way to try and stop it.

Posted

While I'm all for Bandai going after people who are pirating licensed anime DVDs I can see some negative implications here for anime fans. If they're cracking down on people selling bootleg merchandise, which is well within their rights to do so, but they still don't release similar products, the fans get cut off from the merchandise they want to buy and have nowhere else to get it from.

That's a minor concern, a much bigger concern is customs officials actively searching for bootlegs. They're probably not going to discern between licensed anime and unlicensed anime. They might not even discern between bootlegs and legitimate region 2 DVDs. While it's unlikely that small, personal shipments will be hassled with, this is more of a concern for places like Valkyrie-Exchange and getting copies of stuff like unlicensed Macross titles.

Just a little Devil's Advocate for ya.

Posted

Customs is only supposed to go after stuff which the licenseholder tells them about. So it doesn't matter if anime X has been licensed for sale in the US or not; it's up to Bandai whether bootlegs of anime X are going to be confiscated. Source: US Code 17, section 603.

As for legitimate region 2 DVD's, the relevant law is US Code Title 17, section 602, paragraph b. The notes on the section are also helpful. Essentially, if it's not a bootleg, but is simply a legitimate product which isn't licensed for sale in the US, the Customs Service is generally not authorized to confiscate the product. All the Customs Service can do is notify the copyright owner about the importation, provided the owner requests such notification.

So (a) it's up to Bandai which bootlegs to go after, and Customs will enforce that. But (b) Bandai can't get Customs to confiscate or exclude legitimate Region 2 DVDs, although Bandai could get Customs to report such importation; using that information, Bandai could (if they choose) sue the importer in court.

I'm not a lawyer, though, so no one should take this as legal advice.

Posted

They were even going after wallscrolls. Seriously <_<

If more quality wallscrolls were released domestically, then there wouldn't be a problem there wouldn't it?

What other "unauthorized" merchandise are they talking about?

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