Dealing with People Selling Fan Projects — Page 21

Darth Giacomo said:

I don’t get why people buy these. They are so easy and cheap to make It costs maybe ten to 15 dollars to get blank DVDs, an empty DVD case and the paper for the cover and inserts. Plus, the cover artwork for edits are numerous and available online for free. I personally aim to make my own DVD sets for my own personal usage when I find the time and house space for them. heck, maybe make some for my friends for free.

It’s very, very easy to understand why people purchase them.

1. they don’t know where to get them
2. they don’t know anything about torrenting
3. they don’t have a burner
4. they can’t be bothered

It’s really that simple. For a lot of people, 1/2 are the biggest deal-breakers. They’re computer illiterate.

And I also know many people who just don’t have computers anymore. They only have tablets.

I’m not condoning people selling them but there’s a reason that they do. I’d say that a majority of people buying them fit into one (or all) of the categories above

#2 and #4 are my biggest obstacles.

I still haven’t seen these (beautiful) restorations/preservations yet.
I will not pay good money for a film burnt to a blank BD, as the discs don’t last as long as the official product.
I can wait - however long it takes - Mr. Lucas is an old man…

Slavicuss said:

#2 and #4 are my biggest obstacles.

I still haven’t seen these (beautiful) restorations/preservations yet.
I will not pay good money for a film burnt to a blank BD, as the discs don’t last as long as the official product.
I can wait - however long it takes - Mr. Lucas is an old man…

Torrenting is pretty easy. You can download uTorrent and can find most projects from here on most public torrent sites.

Seconded. Torrenting doesn’t have much of a learning curve if you read about the basics first, and uTorrent is pretty good. I use version 2.2.1 (build 25302), which I believe is the last one released before version 3 when the software became bloatware. It’s really small and works well.

When browsing torrent search engines (such various incarnations of the infamous “bay”), I would advise running your web browser in a sandbox such as Sandboxie. This should make it virtually impossible for any malware to get onto your system.

Bluto

Some eBay links to some people selling copies of the DE Trilogy.

1. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Original-Trilogy-Theatrical-Edition-Despecialized-3-Blu-Ray-NEW-SEALED/174022826822?hash=item2884919b46:g:Jr4AAOSwkRhdXCzv
2. https://www.ebay.com/i/183937642472?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=183937642472&targetid=593772083213&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9009256&poi=&campaignid=2089372078&mkgroupid=77528565016&rlsatarget=pla-593772083213&abcId=1141026&merchantid=6296724&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0-SbrcTB5AIVllqGCh1I2AdmEAkYASABEgJ3qPD_BwE
3. https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-WARS-DESPECIALIZED-ORIGINAL-TRILOGY-BLU-RAY-SET/183944161981?epid=97927353&hash=item2ad3ed2abd:g:49QAAOSwLKNbrmqY
4. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Despecialized-Trilogy-Extras-BluRay-3-disc-set/283607510717?hash=item4208532ebd:g:VgQAAOSwRWVa849y
5. https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-WARS-THEATRICAL-DESPECIALIZED-TRILOGY-BLU-RAY-DOCUMENTARIES-6-DISC-SET/163745625011?hash=item261ffff3b3:g:4TMAAOSwNZxchf-f
6. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Original-Trilogy-Despecialized-Editions-Blu-Ray/254351071724?hash=item3b388159ec:g:kacAAOSwZ3Ja6xYW
7. https://www.etsy.com/listing/659779959/the-original-star-wars-trilogy-unruined?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-books_movies_and_music-movies&utm_custom1=c3a80489-3b36-451a-b9a0-8da0eaf2ffc8&utm_content=go_304501235_22745991995_78727221995_pla-106554966755_m__659779959&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrOPz1MXB5AIVwQOGCh3cXAdhEAkYBCABEgIhFPD_BwE

One guy in particular on eBay seems to have quite a few listings for the DE Trilogy.
(https://www.ebay.com/usr/yogurt80?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.c10)

NeverarGreat said:

While we need to do a better job at directing new members towards important information (see here for my suggestion), there will still be the problem of people unwilling/unable to burn the blu-rays and create custom sets. For those people, buying these things may be the only way they get their hands on them. And that’s a big problem.

Any solution not involving money would be quite a hassle, and the best thing I can think of is a system wherein the party requesting the blu-ray would be required to purchase their own blank blu-ray discs and send them in a package containing their copy of the relevant 2011 Blu-ray discs (as proof of purchase) and enough postage for sending it all back.

I would totally do this. It’s so tempting to go the eBay route but I don’t want to be unethical. I don’t have facilities to download and burn a Blu Ray disc.

Another help would be any of the probably infinite tutorials on YouTube.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/722949066/star-wars-original-theatrical-trilogy?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-books_movies_and_music-movies&utm_custom1=ddf94fe4-4d3b-4c9b-b111-c2000be05dd4&utm_content=go_1843970629_71423475322_346397857813_pla-353214764099_c__722949066&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrfvsBRD7ARIsAKuDvMO22-w5lie0Nu0s6FP0tOF_dGlhpeJYxi2oxL2Z4pImHwcmjZe2F7oaAosvEALw_wcB

This person is selling the trilogy on Etsy for $49.99.

I also see the following aspect as a potential motivation to buying vs. downloading, unfortunately:

• In most Western countries, people are reluctant of torrenting. It has become a thriving business for lawyers, torrent monitoring companies etc. to pursue downloaders of copyrighted works, issue C&D letters and slap them with hefty fines (the reason being that while downloading something via a torrent, you simultaneously are uploading, therefore distributing files illegally).

• However, if you buy a bootleg from someone, you revert all legal responsibility to the seller who is selling it to you.

Found a site that sells the Despecialized Trilogy on the site and eBay. They brag about being “the real deal” too.

Link to website removed by moderator - let’s not give them the publicity they wish for.

Thatstinkyguy said:

Found a site that sells the Despecialized Trilogy on the site and eBay. They brag about being “the real deal” too.

Link to website removed by moderator - let’s not give them the publicity they wish for.

They’re getting pretty ballsy now. Selling from their own dedicated website claiming to be some sort of official retailer? I guess they win though because I have no idea how to fight that.

Darth Lucas said:

Thatstinkyguy said:

Found a site that sells the Despecialized Trilogy on the site and eBay. They brag about being “the real deal” too.

https://www.swdespecialized.com/product/sw-despecialized-original-trilogy-blu-ray-set-documentaries

They’re getting pretty ballsy now. Selling from their own dedicated website claiming to be some sort of official retailer? I guess they win though because I have no idea how to fight that.

$74.99 for some made at home burnt BD’s, and pretending to be the “official” source of the Despecialised editions to boot.

Unbelievable.

EDIT: Haha, I missed the credit to the creator segment. “Thanks Harmy for making these so we can illegally sell them for our own profit xoxoxo”.

I don’t know if that or the “I’m only charging what the material costs” line is better. Has anyone here ever spent $75 making a custom DVD or BD set for a fan edit or preservation? I sure as hell haven’t.

mykyta-R4 said:

It is shame we cannot do this - make and sell the Despecialized for NO PROFIT. Give links in description to people who want and can do for free, and give the choice to ONLY cover cost of making set for others. Give a price list of materials: ink, photopaper, discs, case, package box, ebay fee, to show no profit being made.

‘Eliminate the scammers!’

It is a surprise there is no website that does just this. To give direct links to download Despecialized for free: whether a website, youtube video, or reddit thread, that can be easily downloaded as long as you own the official retail releases of course!

To point to and highlight the work of Harmy, his twitter & facebook links, his youtube videos including his “Fan Edits Must Never Be Bought And Sold” video. Also to the main guides, information on HanDuet Guides, solkap & njvc, bluto.

To “eliminate the scammers!” 😃

Maybe it would cost too much? to prove people own the blu rays before downloading? or be in much trouble if caught? Of course I hope nobody on here does such a thing!
 

It is frustrating! I have read some older posts on here that one big reason why George Lucas released the 2004 DVD (and GOUT in 2006) was to stop the pirated or bootleg copies from Asia hitting his potential share of the market at that time. Yet despite much interest in OOT, and scammers profiting from Harmy’s work, Lucasfilm do not provide an official OOT release now on bluray or 4k.

digitalfreaknyc said:

Darth Giacomo said:

I don’t get why people buy these. They are so easy and cheap to make It costs maybe ten to 15 dollars to get blank DVDs, an empty DVD case and the paper for the cover and inserts. Plus, the cover artwork for edits are numerous and available online for free. I personally aim to make my own DVD sets for my own personal usage when I find the time and house space for them. heck, maybe make some for my friends for free.

It’s very, very easy to understand why people purchase them.

1. they don’t know where to get them
2. they don’t know anything about torrenting
3. they don’t have a burner
4. they can’t be bothered

It’s really that simple. For a lot of people, 1/2 are the biggest deal-breakers. They’re computer illiterate.

And I also know many people who just don’t have computers anymore. They only have tablets.

I’m not condoning people selling them but there’s a reason that they do. I’d say that a majority of people buying them fit into one (or all) of the categories above

1)&2) are my main reasons. I haven’t used Torrents in YEARS! I just downloaded uTorrent and it’s so different now. I tried looking up the Grindhouse versions of the original trilogy and it just takes me back to Google. Plus, because I don’t use Torrents anymore, I have no idea which ones are legitimate or not. I understand why nobody, especially moderators on this site DON’T want to link to anything, but I can understand why people would rather just buy it. Hell, if the site I found didn’t have ONLY Blu Ray, I might even consider it! All I want are the Grindhouse versions 😛

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I’m just wondering what the rules are with gifting the Despecialised Editions? My uncle is a Star Wars fan and owns the official release so would it be okay for me to make a copy for him or does he have to obtain it himself? And what about gifting the Despecialised Editions to someone who doesn’t own an official release? I’m guessing you’d have to buy an official release for them to go with the Despecialised Editions to make it legitimate.

Thanks