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Dealing with People Selling Fan Projects — Page 22

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SirGnomes said:

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?

You can absolutely gift him a copy.

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.

Here’s what I’ll say about this…

What do you mean, “legitimate?”

If you mean “legal,” then there’s nothing you can do to “make it legal,” because having a copy of Despecialized or any fan edit or restoration is inherently illegal no matter how you got it or what official version(s) you own.

If you mean “ethical,” that’s up for debate but personally, they’d need to own an official copy.

The “own the source” rule is to protect the project creators, the community, and the site, and doesn’t really have anything to do with legality.

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Was this link posted?

It’s a “store” selling it.

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

(though they were no longer selling Despecialized Editions when I checked earlier - which is good news 😃 )
 

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 (Edited)

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

There is a section on this site called Contact where you can leave a message, thinking we should tell him he shouldn’t do this and ruin it for everyone.

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DVD-BOY said:

I somehow missed this at the time - some very useful info and impressive work, DVD-BOY - nice one 😃

If anyone knows of any other similarly useful links please post them up for inclusion - thank you.
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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digitalfreaknyc said:

Was this link posted?

It’s a “store” selling it.

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

(though they were no longer selling Despecialized Editions when I checked earlier - which is good news 😃 )
 

They’re absolutely still selling it. In fact, it’s the ONLY thing that they’re selling.

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digitalfreaknyc said:

digitalfreaknyc said:

Was this link posted?

It’s a “store” selling it.

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

(though they were no longer selling Despecialized Editions when I checked earlier - which is good news 😃 )
 

They’re absolutely still selling it. In fact, it’s the ONLY thing that they’re selling.

For me there is no Despecialized listed on that site - plenty of other things for sale, like t-shirts and other items of clothing etc.

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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Wonder if it’s a region-lock thing in an attempt to stay under the radar of the law in certain countries?

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Buying fan edits or restorations is absolutely not any worse than downloading them for free.

There seems to be a common misconception that if you already bought a legal copy of a work, you are entitled to download other copies for free. This is false. Also, the people who make the fan edit or restoration never had the legal rights to distribute it in the first place since they are not the copyright holder. Even if they edited it from their own personal copy, that does not give them distribution rights.

Selling, on the other hand…

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Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

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ChainsawAsh said:

Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

How is it not the same ethically? You’re stealing from Lucasfilm either way.

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FTFY

MASTER260 said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

How is it not the same ethically? We’re stealing from Lucasfilm either way.

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MASTER260 said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

How is it not the same ethically? You’re stealing from Lucasfilm either way.

But I’m not giving money to a pirate.

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ChainsawAsh said:

MASTER260 said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

How is it not the same ethically? You’re stealing from Lucasfilm either way.

But I’m not giving money to a pirate.

Touche.

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MASTER260 said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Whether it’s the same from a legal standpoint or not, it’s not the same ethically at all.

Plus there’s the fact that it’s explicitly against the rules of this website, so I’m not sure what argument you think you’re trying to make here.

How is it not the same ethically? You’re stealing from Lucasfilm either way.

This is an argument I’ll never understand. When it comes to media that’s been out of print for 10-20 years, how exactly is that stealing from the copyright holder? I feel exactly the same about Nintendo. I’m not stealing from you if you don’t give me the option to buy a product. Nintendo doesn’t even provide all their first party IPs using their retro services. A lot of games they never gave people the option to play because they were never released in PAL/NTSC regions and never translated. A lot of games that were translated and released had core aspects of gameplay and the story altered to “better suit” and American/Euro audience by boardroom executives. So it’s not even the authors original vision. Lucasfilm doesn’t provide the original versions of the Star Wars movies. Even Clones and The Phantom Menace. Give me the option to buy your product and I will.

Copyright law in America was originally supposed to work like patent law. The inventor of an invention/innovation gets exclusive rights to profit from the fruits of their labor for a limited time until that invention/innovation is given to everyone for the betterment of mankind. Copyright law has been perverted by multi-national, multi-billion dollar media conglomerates lobbying the government for seemingly indefinite extensions. All under the false pretense that it “protects the artist”.

It “protects artists” by suppressing other artists inspired by the original work who would want to say sample that original work, or re-edit it to create something new entirely using the legal system. We’ve even seen fan editors/fan restorers on THIS website be so influenced to create after completing their projects that they move onto working in the film industry.

We’re at a point now where practically nothing is in the public domain, if nothing is in the public domain everything is. It makes people who would otherwise respect ethical boundaries to wait for something to be in public domain/OOP not care and create derivative works no matter how new a property is because the legal repercussions are exactly the same. It also stagnates culture. Instead of creating something new, companies will continuously milk the same franchise for decades.

Sorry mods if this is too political, I’m not opposed to removing this if you feel it necessary. Also sorry Darth Lucas, I know this is massively off topic.

JEDIT:
MASTER 260, I don’t mean to come off as hostile by throwing a wall of text at you. After re-reading my post I feel like I blew up over one offhand comment. Sorry my dude.

Luke astro-projects himself to Salt Lake Planet, gets shot at by gorilla walkers, has a non-lightsaber duel with Darth Millennial, then dies of a broken heart, inspiring broom boys throughout the galaxy to get creative with their sweeping. - DuracellEnergizer

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J0E said:

Also sorry Darth Lucas, I know this is massively off topic.

No worries at all. Imo that was a very well thought out and well-written explanation of the viewpoint the vast majority of us share on this site.

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Chase Adams said:

The very thought that too much unwanted attention towards originaltrilogy.com by Lucasfilm/Disney would lead to legal action is absolutely terrifying. I can’t imagine what I would do if I found this site suddenly taken down.

Disney knows about everything going on here by now. There’s an interview with J.J. Abrams referring to the Despecialized Editions by name. They have no reason to go after anyone here. If J.J. is to be believed, they have zero plans to release the original versions of any of the films anytime soon. Besides, all they’d have to do to completely stomp out the entire fan restoration part of this site is release the original versions. That would do more than legal action ever could and they know that.

We’re like a pressure valve for them. If the fan restorations didn’t exist, we’d be as militant as we were during the early 2000s. It would be a massive PR disaster. Disney isn’t tone-deaf enough to pull a PS3 era Sony on us. If they were, they would have done it by now. I wouldn’t worry too much.

Luke astro-projects himself to Salt Lake Planet, gets shot at by gorilla walkers, has a non-lightsaber duel with Darth Millennial, then dies of a broken heart, inspiring broom boys throughout the galaxy to get creative with their sweeping. - DuracellEnergizer

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Darth Lucas said:

J0E said:

Also sorry Darth Lucas, I know this is massively off topic.

No worries at all. Imo that was a very well thought out and well-written explanation of the viewpoint the vast majority of us share on this site.

Thanks my guy.

Luke astro-projects himself to Salt Lake Planet, gets shot at by gorilla walkers, has a non-lightsaber duel with Darth Millennial, then dies of a broken heart, inspiring broom boys throughout the galaxy to get creative with their sweeping. - DuracellEnergizer

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It is not just despecialized, 4K77 and 4K83 are being sold too. I guess the profit motive is too much for them to consider they are putting the fanedit and preservation community in jeopardy.

A fanedit of the Mandalorian was also being sold but at least those listings have been taken down.

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I saw a set of blu-ray cases on eBay said to be modeled after the old CBS/FOX VHS covers with original movie poster art. It said the price was for the cases only, but they would include 4k77, 4K80, and 4K83 free of charge (since it is illegal to charge for them) if you send a message asking for them to be included.

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Interesting that they can sell 4K80 even before it’s been finished or released! Maybe I should buy a copy to see how it turns out.

Spaceballs the Videotape!

TheStarWarsTrilogy.com.
The007Dossier.com.
Donations always welcome: Paypal | Bitcoin: bc1qzr9ejyfpzm9ea2dglfegxzt59tys3uwmj26ytj

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Williarob said:

Interesting that they can sell 4K80 even before it’s been finished or released! Maybe I should buy a copy to see how it turns out.

Spaceballs the Videotape!

Oops. I went back and looked again. This is what it says:

“Since I do not own the content on the discs, I cannot sell them. If you would like the 6 discs included, please send a message and I’ll gladly include them FREE. Again, to be clear, I’m selling the artwork & cases for these. If you would like the discs included, they will be added for FREE. I’m just a one man operation, so the cost is to cover materials & time spent putting these together. I lovingly recreated the artwork of the original CBS FOX VHS releases in the format of these 2-sided Criterion size cover art inserts & had the artwork professionally printed on the same stock as normal studio blu-ray insert art.”

Disc 1. Star Wars: Project 4K77 (DNR Version, 1080p) - blu-ray (BD25)
Disc 2. Star Wars: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.7 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)
Disc 3. The Empire Strikes Back: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.0 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)
Disc 4. The Empire Strikes Back: TN1 35mm “grindhouse” scan (has not been cleaned up or had DNR applied) 1080p blu-ray (BD-25)
Disc 5. Return of the Jedi: Project 4K83 (DNR Version, 1080p) - blu-ray (BD25)
Disc 6. Return of the Jedi: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.5 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)

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So what’s the verdict on purchasing something like the above? Frowned upon? I only have a chromebook. Some of us do not have the means and/or ability to download some of the projects talked about here. Does the wording above somewhat legitimize it or not?

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Rodney-2187 said:

Williarob said:

Interesting that they can sell 4K80 even before it’s been finished or released! Maybe I should buy a copy to see how it turns out.

Spaceballs the Videotape!

Oops. I went back and looked again. This is what it says:

“Since I do not own the content on the discs, I cannot sell them. If you would like the 6 discs included, please send a message and I’ll gladly include them FREE. Again, to be clear, I’m selling the artwork & cases for these. If you would like the discs included, they will be added for FREE. I’m just a one man operation, so the cost is to cover materials & time spent putting these together. I lovingly recreated the artwork of the original CBS FOX VHS releases in the format of these 2-sided Criterion size cover art inserts & had the artwork professionally printed on the same stock as normal studio blu-ray insert art.”

Disc 1. Star Wars: Project 4K77 (DNR Version, 1080p) - blu-ray (BD25)
Disc 2. Star Wars: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.7 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)
Disc 3. The Empire Strikes Back: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.0 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)
Disc 4. The Empire Strikes Back: TN1 35mm “grindhouse” scan (has not been cleaned up or had DNR applied) 1080p blu-ray (BD-25)
Disc 5. Return of the Jedi: Project 4K83 (DNR Version, 1080p) - blu-ray (BD25)
Disc 6. Return of the Jedi: Harmy’s Despecialized Edition v.2.5 - blu-ray (w/Bonus Features BD50)

That’s somewhat legally questionable, but at least it’s not blatantly illegal like some of these eBay deals. Selling the cases and cover art, even without the discs, is still a dick move though.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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The dude with a website only selling depecialized and grindhouse, how is that legally allowed. I mean why does Disney allow it. And how about that UK seller almost exclusively selling 4K77 and 4K83 discs with DNR and non DNR versions, and the Mandalorian and the Holiday Special, and Harmy Empire Strikes Back. And Ebay just allows it.

I mean i guess its pointless for me to even do anything or complain about it, like going into my comic shop and all the guy was selling was bootleg Star Wars DVD’s and posters. Now i was ripped off on the DVD’s. But at least i had the Steve Sansweet book to know the posters were illegitimate.