Anime Bootlegs

When is bootlegging okay?

I came up with this question some time ago, and I ask it of all my friends.
Here it is:
When do you condone the production/purchase/sale/use of bootlegged anime?

 

Hello, my name is Detective Robert Goren and I am with the New York City Police Department. For some time we have been working on a case in which we are trying to convict people who make illegal reproductions of "bootleg" materials and put them on "the market", if you will, for profit. I appreciate your contribution to our investigation.

Now if you will provide for us your full name and address and the names and addresses of the individuals in which you were speaking of, we will be at your house momentarily to arrest you.

Or just reply. We can trace you from that.

Have a nice day.

One behalf of all of us here at the Major Case Squad,
Detective Robert Goren

[EDIT] But in all seriousness, just so that I am not drawn to the attention of the proper authorities... no, I do NOT condone bootlegging. Bootleg = bad. Very, very bad. >: Yes. Very bad. *coughs* [/EDIT]

 

Umm... I live at... 123... Fake Street in... Made-upville... Nonexistant Province... In the country of... Imaginaryland. Yeah, that should work.

Anyway, most of them reply along the lines of "Only before the official release date" or "Never." Except for the poor ones, and you wouldn't beat up the poor would you?

Personally, I believe "Never" is the way to go. If it's not released yet, waitning until it is will make it more enjoyable... or more of a letdown.

I look to seeing more posts here soon.

 

i think you're confusing fansubs there. fansubs are generally regarded as ok until the title has been picked-up by a company for release, then that company will generally issue a warning for all fansub distribution of that title to stop. bootlegs will never be regarded as ok unless it becomes ok to steal stuff and resell it... :sweat2: . that would be the easy life!. :anime: the difference is that fansubbers aren't in it for the money, they just put in the hard yards to sub a title, then distribute it for no personal gain. these guys if anything are reducing the market for bootleggers.
Of course, if the companies who sell legit anime did a better job of it, then there wouldn't be an issue. waiting 5+ years for a title to be released, and then paying $200 for a series is a bit of a joke really, it's not surprising that bootlegs are so commonly bought and sold.
currently if i wanted to buy the complete TV series of Lupin, it would cost me
AU $1750 + shipping. :bleed2: who'd pay that?

 

Good point. Unfortunately, nobody I know does "fansubbing," so they buy bootlegged merchandise when they don't have the money for the official version or it hasn't be released. Personally, I would probably fansub a few things if I knew Japanese and had a computer that was worth anything. I would do this purely to get a better understanding of the story, because in some cases, official subs are way off. (See http://www.mangatoanime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5615)
I would of course, not sell it for money, and share it only with friends.

Anyway, the fact remains that it is unofficial, that it is illegal after the release date, and several of my friends do, in fact, buy bootlegs. Her reasoning? "It's better to have a crappy version than none at all."

I know the difference between fansubs and bootlegs, and frankly, I don't care for either.

Is not the long-awaited anime more enjoyed than the one received early? Unless it was something I really wanted, like Saber Marionette J to X (before I had it) then I would prefer to wait for it. Heh, the one month I had to wait for J to X after I won that E-bay auction was torture enough, to have had to wait much longer...