Buying legitimate DVDs in China

[bkups2003]

I recently moved to china and i would assume that everyone is aware of how big it is in piracy, especially DVD's. I like anime alot but the pirated DVD's suck. Poor quality and usually aren't even in english (Dub or sub) so they're pretty useless to me anyway since i don't understand Japanese or Chinese. The movies seem to be mostly direct copies from the original. But the series are all compressed and squashed onto as little dvds as possible.

So i'm wondering if anyone would know of anywhere i can purchase legitimate DVD's with english subtitles and preferably the dub if available since i'm not that biosed against dubs unless it's really awful. I don't want to have to resort to importing DVDs into China. That makes just about no sense to me.

So yea... Anyone aware of somewhere i can purchase legitimate DVDs in China?

[jggimi]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

What a terrific question! While it reminds me of questions like "Where can I buy 'real' Cuban cigars in Cuba?" -- I would think that most of the major DVD distributors might have distribution ventures or partnership agreements in China. If you look at the "company credits" for any Hollywood film at www.imdb.com, you will see a list of the film's distributors. You'll likely have to contact the company to find out who distributes in China.

At random, I decided to look into Chinese distribution of Harry Potter. Here's what IMDB says about the distributors for the 2001 release: * Warner Bros. (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
* Warner Bros. Pictures (2001) (USA) (theatrical)
* Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
* Argentina Video Home (AVH) (Argentina) (DVD)
* Argentina Video Home (AVH) (Argentina) (VHS)
* Audio Visual Enterprises (2002) (Greece) (video)
* EDKO Film Ltd.
* Karo Premiere (2002) (Russia) (theatrical)
* Kuk Dong
* Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland
* Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB
* Varus Video (Russia) (VHS)
* Warner Bros. GmbH (2001) (Germany) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros. (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros. (2001) (Brazil) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros. (2001) (UK) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros. (2001) (Japan) (theatrical)
* Warner Bros. (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
* Warner Home Video (2002) (Germany) (video)
* Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
* Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
* Warner Roadshow (Greece)
* Warner Sogefilms A.I.E. (2001) (Spain) (theatrical)I then went to www.warnerbros.com to look for any published relationships in China. The website says that Warner Bros. Consumer Products has "...signed a far-reaching agreement with Hutchison Harbour Ring to manufacture and distribute merchandise and operate Warner Bros. Studio Stores in China, Hong Kong and Macau, with the first store scheduled to open in Shanghai this year." The website maintains a customer service link for you to post questions with an e-mail address for reply. I didn't go that far, but ... you certainly can if you'd like to find out if HHR or some other company currently distributes WB discs in your adopted country.

Good luck!

[ammck55]

Yes, a very interesting question, and a solid heads-up from jggimi, but that's what we've come to expect of him when he drops in to help us out.

@bkups2003--Drop back in and keep us posted on what you find out. There are few, if any, places in the world where the digital landscape is shifting as quickly as it is in China.

ammck55

[SallyDog]

Maybe http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/supercenter/index.htm ????

I dunno what they sell there, or if you're even near one.

[bkups2003]

Well actually i am in Zhuhai which is right next to Macau, one of the places jggimi said. Well i've searched every shop i can find from those located on the busiest streets to those tiny markets. All of them are bootleg. I have not seen one single legitimate DVD anywhere. Honestly, not one! It's pretty amazing. :p It isn't really that surprising though. China is VERY poor. A DVD at the price America sells it is EXTREMELY expensive over here. 1 DVD would be close to a week of work for the average person.

I don't think i can really report any progress here. I'm lost at what to do... I don't know where to begin looking. Which is really why i ended up here. :p

It's good to hear that Warner Brothers has legitimate DVDs over here. Problem is that i'm really interested in the anime and finding that in english and legitimate is asking alot. Hong Kong is much more strict on the laws against piracy so maybe i can try there... :confused:

[jggimi]

I know I'd seen it once, found it again -- Warner, which is just coincidence since I'd picked "Harry Potter" at random as an example of a global mass marketed film.

This article describes Warner test marketing at low retail to combat black marketeering in China. The Aviator at retail for 12 RMBs:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12425693/

[smiller667]

Have you considered mail ordering in China? Try http://cnave.com or http://www.joyo.com/ (the latter is the Chinese section of amazon). For both you would need at least "some" knowledge of Chinese, though. I have no personal experiences with either of them.
Some HK shops have a good selection of legitimate releases as well as shipping to mainland China - http://buyoyo.com comes to my mind.
If you go for Chinese discs, I would not expect to find too many English-subbed/dubbed versions ... I bought quite a few legitimate mainland releases (non-anime, though), and many won't come with English language features. After all, it's China, not the US :). Also, be prepared for potentially bad dvd encoding in legitimate discs - blurry, washed out colours etc. Worse, some publishers put hard-coded, partially animated logos into the image (allegedly to discourage piracy). ZokeGD is one such publisher.

Good luck ...
Steve

[brady748]

Im in Beijing now and I was doing some searching on how to identify bootlegged dvds as Im interested in 'proving' wal-mart is selling bootlegs here in china. This thread popped up, so Ill ask for some assistance and also post what I have learned about the original poster's question.

Wal-mart is most certainly selling a few bootlegs (if not many), but proof would be nice and their dvds are very convincing (Im not trying to .... [edit profanity] walmart, i just like the irony).

Anyhow, I bought what looked like (and was priced like) the most likely 'real' dvd in the store (It cost about $5 US, which is really pricey here). It is Da Vinci Code Director's cut (I think). Everything looks realistic as far as I can tell (a lot of the DVD cover art is in Chinese...but they do have all the copyright info, the actor's names, etc etc). I did look at the DVD with Nero's Info Tool and it says "dvd studio pro 4.2" under application under the disc info. Anyone know if that would be different if it was produced by a distribution company over here legally on behalf of Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures? Does anyone have the name of a tool that would easily let me know if this disc is copyrighted (Im assuming bootleggers would not add copyright protection, although i would assume they also wouldn't waste time making the dvd's look so authentic but there are some very convincing fakes out here). Also, Im going to try to dig up that news story linked above as the link is dead, but if anyone has that article I'd love to read it as the DVD's in walmart are CHEAP and I was wondering if US companies were trying to sell at bootleg prices here to shift the marketplace.

As for where to buy legit dvds in China. I dont think you really can. Im trying to prove this davinci code disc is real or fake, but it was pretty obvious that there were other fakes in wal-mart. The 75 cent 'fifth element' dvd looked pretty fake thru the packaging. Maybe Ill go back and buy that and test it if I cant prove this Da Vinci disc either way.

The best bet for good quality dvds in Beijing (and probably most of China) is to buy them in department stores as opposed to the street. They'll cost a bit more (probably $2 as compared to $1) but they are likely better copies. Also, stay away from anything that hasn't been released yet as you can be sure its taped from inside the theater and isn't some copy of a 'pre-release' dvd that somehow leaked out of a studio. If you want English Audio or Subtitles, you are going to have to learn some chinese to ask the seller or read the artwork....i dont think you'll find anyone who can answer that question in english for you.

Brady
In China

[jggimi]

imdb (http://imdb.com/title/tt0382625/companycredits) says only that Sony Pictures Entertainment is the worldwide distributor for all media, and that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the DVD distributor for Germany.

Most any ripping tool will tell you if the disc is CSS encrypted (the DVD standard); Sony uses their own Arccos copy protection scheme as well.

[brady748]

Thanks jggimi,

I was having trouble finding where that info is on imdb.com

[jggimi]

"Company Credits" is the place to look for likely corporate listings.

If Warner was selling The Aviator for 12 RMBs (around US$1.50-$1.60) then your $5 disc is probably legit.