Convention Fans

I’ll never forget the first time I walked into the vendor room at a convention in Orlando, and saw all of the bootleg VHS tapes and DVDs. Some DVDs had home home printed covers, and others didn’t even bother with them. Some were so professional looking they didn’t even look like bootlegs at all. I couldn’t believe it! There were so many movies and television shows I had never seen available before, and suddenly, there they were! I mean, where else was I going to get TekWar on DVD? (I am still waiting for that Mr. Shatner.) And the Cowboy Bebop box set? Where was I ever going to find that for less than $20?

At the time, I had no idea what bootlegging was. I didn’t realize just how illegal it was either. More than anything, I was surprised to learn that the convention had rented out vendor space to a company that was blatantly breaking the law. Why weren’t they closing these vendors down?

Over the years, I’ve done a little research into the conventions that have bootleggers, and those that don’t. The ones that do often take the position that it is not their responsibility to enforce copyright law. If someone wants to sell an illegal copy of Star Trek: The Animated Series, then it is Paramount’s responsibility to stop them, not the convention organizers. It’s the “not our problem” approach. (I have actually heard of raids on small Trek conventions over the years, so it’s not as if these companies never enforce their copyright. It’s just rare.)

Other conventions invite the official distributors to have exhibition booths at the convention as a way of discouraging bootleggers from showing up in the first place. In my experience, this tactic is most prevalent at anime conventions, where companies like ADV, Bandai, and MediaBlasters (all official American distributors of anime) actually have a presence in the vendor rooms. I have seen, first hand, representatives from such companies picking through another company’s vendor table, telling them to remove certain titles of theirs.

The law is pretty clear on the whole bootlegging thing. If Company A owns the material, why should any other company be allowed to reproduce it, and then profit from it? However, can the case be made that it should be okay for shows or films that are not available on DVD or VHS, and/or do not have an American distributor? I’m referring specifically to a show like Monster (an anime), which has not been picked up by an American distribution company. There is no way for an American fan to get a legitimate copy and watch it (aside from finding someone in Japan to sell them a DVD player and the Japanese version of the DVD). While still legally wrong to buy a bootleg of it, is it morally wrong? Can the same argument be applied to Bit Torrent sites too?

What do YOU think?

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