Advice On Format For My First VHS/DVD Movies

[Janey Web]

Hi,

My name is Janey and I have been running my site http://www.janeyweb.com for nearly 3 years. I have many movies on my site, but they are obviously lower in quality compared to a VHS tape or DVD.

I have decided to start selling DVD's and VHS tapes via a business contact in the USA.

I have been warned about the danger of selling DVD's due to the risk of pirating. Essentially a DVD is a master and I may find that someone else duplicates my movies illegally.

Where if I only sell VHS tapes, the likelehood of this happening is not so great, and in time his copy would produce less than satisfactory results. But I guess he could just buy a new copy, so is there really any more safety going down this route.

I would welcome anyone in the movie business to pass on their comments on these issues.

Many thanks for your help.

Janey Web
xx
www.janeyweb.com
www.adultbloggers.com

[Steven]

You can use MACROVISION copy protection on both VHS and DVD. This makes copies come out with varying brightness and contrast and poor colour. It virtually renders the copy unwatchable. This prevents most casual copiers doing it in the home, but someone who is in the know about these things or determined to copy something will not be stopped by Macrovision as there are ways round it.

[Adrian]

My thoughts is that you stick your logo or web address on your film, ie all the way through.

OK, people can pirate it, but at least it helps sell your website.

We all know that if your film is at all decent it will be copied, but if you can at least benifit from the copy in some way, you do not fully loose out.

[Officer Dibble]

No that's nonsense. A DVD is not strictly a 'master' It is a hugely compressed format and compressed in this instance = compromised. An awful lot of picture information had to be tossed away to get it onto that small silver disc.

The market for VHS is slowly, but surely, declining and though it still holds sway amongst the? old school' of adult video fans, it is not the future. Would bootleggers feel more inhibited about copying from VHS? - Not in the slightest.

Anyhow, you should consider it an honour that anyone would deen your material worthy of copying. Most new adult material is so tedious that if someone were make copies it wouldn't do them much good as the diminishing ranks of adult video buyers could barley be arsed to purchase it, at any price.

So, I suggest that you don't lose any sleep over the boot legging issue (that?s the least of your problems) and instead divert energy to marketing and distributing the product. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.


Officer Dibble.

[John Mason]

At the end of the day, there is very little you can do about piracy. My stuff is being ripped off all the time and at first I used to get well pissed off about it, but now I just look at it as a sign that my stuffs worth ripping off! A kind of left handed compliment!
Good luck with what your doing.

[Janey Web]

Hi All,

I just wanted to say a thankyou to everyone who has responded so quickly on here, and for the offers of help I have recieved in my email.

Interesting reading.

Many thanks,

Janey
xx

[valx]

J.W. if you become disenchanted with your current long distance arrangements at some point - email me. Happy to discuss further if or when need arises.

[carl]

cool website janey:) adrian is spot on, get your web addy on all your stuff that way if someone does copy your stuff(you can't stop them) at least they'll know who the hot chick is and head over to your site. more hits= more members/money.

p.s. why the fuck can i never meet a girl like you in a night club?

[Janey Web]

Hi Carl,

Thankyou for the compliments on the site.

The branding idea is very tempting I must admit. I will definately look into this as an option. Infact I will probably ask the subscribers on my mailing list what they think, and if it would put them off a purchase.

Actually does anyone have any customer feedback on branding as an option? Any positive or negative feeback? With successful branding it is almost tempting to be pirated lol.

A good friend of ours is currently going through a lawsuit in the states. He walked into a bookstore, noticed a black and white photocopy of his picture on the front of a VHS tape.

He talked the guy into popping it into a player under the quise of checking quality and sure enough it was one of his movies. They had basically removed the intro and end credits and were reselling it. He's waiting any day now for an out of court settlement. But of course it would not have been so easy for him if the pirating had occured outside the United States as has happened to another friend.

We have had other associates in the States that have come across similar problems to.

Us web folk must appear easy meat in more ways than one lol.

Reference the nightclub, don't give up. I met my husband in one would you believe. Just a run of the mill cheesy nightclub in Bracknell, so there has got to be hope for you yet!

Thanks again everyone.

Janey
xx

[Janey Web]

Hi Officer,

Thanks for your comments and I do agree with what you say.

The main reason I posted on this board was while I was out in Vegas for Internext this past January, the topic came up on several occasions and I was interested to see what the perspective on the subject was back here in the UK.

My husband and I also had the pleasure to finally meet Mike from TMVideo and he highly recommended this board.

Infact, thanks again to everyone, you have all been most helpful.

Janey
xx