Shucks. I don't think I can kill you with a cel .
. . although I have a douga with some SHARP edges!
^_^
No, you're right about the CDs. I've spent many an
hour squinting at a pic trying to make sure
whether it's pirated. There do seem to be some odd
copyright laws out there; though it's not uncommon
for a company to be liscensed to sell (or
manufacture) an item in one area, but to have it
be illegal in another. After all, the PS2 can't be
shipped to Libya, though for (slighty!) different
reasons. (Libyans never get to have any fun.)
That's also why most DVDs are regionally coded,
too; to prevent them being resold outside of
certain areas. It IS easy to tell the difference
between bootlegs and legal stuff, although you
have to know what to look for, and I know plently
of people who don't (or didn't till I told them,
crushing their dreams of buying cheap CDs at
conventions! Bwahahaha!).
I don't know either if it's some kind of
diplomatic and legal catch that prevents the
Japanese companies from being tougher about
enforcing copyrights. There's apparently some
evidence, at least with the fansub industry, that
they allow certain amounts of it to go on if they
don't feel it will damage commercial release
profits. There's many reasons why a number of
companies, not just Japanese studios, haven't
banned galleries or other web-based fan material,
possibly just because they have a better attitude
than Disney. They can tell the difference between
pirated stuff and pure fandom. Also they're less
high-visibility; lots of people are ready to go
after Disney for any reason and limiting what of
their property is out there is one way to protect
them from lawsuits or bad PR in general. And then
you get into the whole freedom of speech thing and
the vagueness of laws regarding the internet . . .
and so on. And you're right, it is sometimes free
advertising.
But, you've hit the nail on the head, notifying
evilBay (that's very clever! LOL!) and educating
fans is what we all need to do! Let's |
