The Motion Picture Association of America released a media advisory to journalists this morning "Offer[ing] tips to holiday shoppers to steer clear of counterfit CDs, DVDs" and to "stop Grinches from stealing copyrights." Snip:
“The holiday season is a time to for people to enjoy quality entertainment with family and friends and we want to make sure that consumers are safeguarded against pirates peddling counterfeit products,” said MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman. “With so many people buying movies and music for their friends and loved ones, we want to ensure that buyers are getting the real Chicken Little and not some pirated turkey.”
The advisory goes on to list helpful pointers for determining whether the DVD you're buying is legit or counterfit. Strangely, "back of dude's head in middle of screen throughout movie" and "store consists of worn cardboard box in gutter on Canal Street" are not among them.
Here at Boing Boing, we'd like to do our part to edumacate vulnerable consumers, so we now point you to the Crappy Bootleg DVD Covers pool on Flickr for furthr schooling.
See exhibit A, above. If the DVD you bought from that guy in the alley contains all three Lord of the Rings, all three Harrys Potter, and Earthsea to boot — well, let's just say Hollywood would never be that generous with you.
Link. Image: one of the snapshots you'll find in the Crappy Bootleg DVD Covers pool, "DVD Dork" by amalthya.
Reader comment: Jemal says,
I know how to tell real from pirated: pirated DVDs don't take over your DVD player to keep you from skipping through the 60-second anti-piracy movie.
