We’re were notified late yesterday that USA Homeland Security agents had seized a large shipment of counterfeit Cathe DVDs that were illegally replicated in China and they have made an arrest. Who knew that when The Homeland Security Agency was formed to protect the USA from another attack that they would also end up enforcing copyright law. Well, the real reason an agency whose responsibility is to protect the USA also protects us from copyright violations is in this case the counterfeit DVDs were imported and US Custom agents now operate under the Homeland Security Agency.
Bootleg DVDs have become a real problem for us in the last several years. Though we have several legitimate distributors that sell our products online, there are many others selling illegal and inferior copies of our DVDs. A common trick that Bootleggers do is to take a dual layer disc and compress the file size so that the media fits on a single layered disc. This saves them a few pennies, but gives you a poor quality DVD and damages our reputation.
Determining if a DVD is legitimate is easy if you know how. We use three replicators, with most of our newer DVDs being replicated by SONY. Here are some steps that can help you determine if a DVD is counterfeit:
1. If your Cathe DVD was replicated by SonyDADC (i.e., all STS DVDs, 4-Day Split DVD, Body Max 2, Drill Max, Butts & Guts, Low Impact Circuit and many more DVDs you will see a Product Code Number (PCN) on the back (non label side) of the DVD followed by a barcode:
- The PCN number will begin with DVSS or DVDL (this is the main code you want to look for. These codes are SonyDADC specific and hard to duplicate. DVSS means single layered disc while DVDL means the discs are dual layered. If your DVD has these codes it means it is probably legitimate.
- The IFPI code you see is a mold# specific, it can be traced to a specific molding machine. The IFPI code unfortunately can be pirated if the replicator has a copy of the original DVD. IFPI codes are not a good indication if a DVD is counterfeit or real.
2. If your Cathe DVD was replicated by one of our other two replicators the PCN code you should look for on the non-label side of your disc will start with either:
- STEPN
- LMW/CA
3. Poor artwork is another way to recognize if a DVD is a fake. Unfortunately, Bootleggers can do a pretty good job sometimes of copying artwork and without a real copy to compare to you probably wouldn’t know if a DVD is a fake.
4. To learn more about how to spot a fake DVD – Click Here
