Could it be time to consider a "for sale" DVD offering at DCM?

[talia374]

I saw posting stating in the VIP section, that DVD's, were not available for sale by DCM. I posted there, the following reply...............Thinking that a new topic might be better than attaching a reply to an older thread, I am reposting here as well......

My reply..................>>It is distressing that others are clearly using the efforts of the generous people on this site, to turn a profit on Ebay and ioffer etc. by offering DVD compilations of files,some or many of which originated here.

Perhaps consideration should be given by the "powers to be" at DCM, to make available for purchase some or all of the DCM catalog.

I realize that selling of the scans is and has always been frowned upon...but...it IS being done and the money has not been used to further any cause, dear to DCM.

Funds could be used to purchase those titles that may otherwise never be made readily available to all. Those purchased could then be re-sold to still further the process.

Website funding could also use the financial boost.

I am sure that there are other financial shortfalls that could benefit as well.

I strongly believe that the membership here, if polled, would find a DVD supportive process, not only acceptable, but desireable.

[KaineZ]

I know someone that notified eBay, Marvel and DC that people were selling DVDs of not just PD comics, but comics that were CLEARLY under copyright by both DC and Marvel (silver age comics of high value properties such as Avengers, Spidey, Superman, Batman, etc.) and nothing was done to stop the sellers by either eBay or DC/Marvel.  This is a little surprising considering eBay is known to be pretty diligent about protecting IP and preventing the sale of items that should be illegal (or immoral in some cases) to sell.  I guess for Marvel and DC sales of their much older comics aren't that strong so they just don't care.

If no one else out there cares why should DCM?

[Yoc]

I can see what T is asking and yes, there might even be a market for such disks but the time required by staff to arrange and produce them are more than we have to offer.
There are some good points being made but we feel, at least for now, that running the site is as much as we can manage.

-Yoc

[narfstar]

Just because no one seems to care now does not mean they won't later. Unlike trademark the copyright does not have to be defended. They can allow it to be violated then pounce when they feel like it. I would rather take the moral high ground and go with what is legal.

[paw broon]

The "problem", if it is that, with those c.d.s of comic files, is growing and it's obvious that anyone can download comics from here and elsewhere, burn them to disc and sell them.  They show up at most marts and cons here in Scotland.  Not much to be done about it, even if you wanted to.  But it's not only p.d. comics on many of these discs as g.a. Marvel, g.a. and s.a. D.C., Classics Ill., Eagle and other mainstream British titles and lots more are readily available.  Not sure how much money the folk making the discs and the dealers can make from them considering you need discs, sleeves, basic printing, paper and time.  I don't see it as much of a problem anyway and as narfstar pointed out on CB+, not even t.v. companies are taking action on the bootleg shows that seem to be widely available at marts. Although, as he points out, these same companies could pounce at any time. There is a small movement here trying to encourage certain publishers to make their archive comics available, legitimately, on c.d.  and there is a glimmer of hope on that front.  So if that were to happen, it would caw the feet away from the pirates. No need for re-coloured comics printed on shiny paper they were never designed for but decent quality scans from the company archives.  D.C. Thomson here are the obvious company as they have comprehensive archives.  So, optimistically, were the obvious suspects to have a go at this there wouldn't be any need for DCM to offer discs.
I think folk have to realise that the people running DCM and CB+ are all volunteer fans and there is only so much time in a day.   

[bchat]

I know someone that notified eBay, Marvel and DC that people were selling DVDs of not just PD comics, but comics that were CLEARLY under copyright by both DC and Marvel (silver age comics of high value properties such as Avengers, Spidey, Superman, Batman, etc.) and nothing was done to stop the sellers by either eBay or DC/Marvel.  This is a little surprising considering eBay is known to be pretty diligent about protecting IP and preventing the sale of items that should be illegal (or immoral in some cases) to sell.  I guess for Marvel and DC sales of their much older comics aren't that strong so they just don't care.

If no one else out there cares why should DCM?

My guess is that ebay's policy is that they only act when a copyright holder (I'm assuming they'd need proof of that) contacts them about illegal content on their site, which makes sense.   If ebay acted on every claim of copyright infringement from third party non-copyright holders, things could potentially get so out-of-hand that it would be impossible for anyone to sell anything on their site.

As for Marvel & DC, it might simply be that they're being patient, waiting for a time when they can sue for "damages and lost revenue", and feel confident that the money they spend on lawyers will be well spent.  Also, we shouldn't assume that Marvel and/or DC has not already sent anyone a cease & desist letter.

[KaineZ]

Just because no one seems to care now does not mean they won't later. Unlike trademark the copyright does not have to be defended. They can allow it to be violated then pounce when they feel like it. I would rather take the moral high ground and go with what is legal.

I think they just don't care, or they feel like it would cost them too much to go after so many individuals that it wouldn't be worth it.  Since way before Napster I've obliged myself to many an illegal mp3 just because it was the only way to hear a song to tell if I wanted to buy it.  There was one local independent CD store in the city I lived in back in the 90s that did have stations in-store where you could run the bar code of any CD and listen to any song in its entirety on any CD.  I always felt like if more stores did that they would sell more CD's.  By dl'ing the occasional mp3 or listening to the odd CD here and there at that one store I bought way more CD's than I normally would have.  At one point I was buying 3-5 CDs a week and over half of those purchases were because  I heard the songs before I bought them (and I don't mean "heard them on the radio"!!  this was obscure stuff that never got radio play).  So, in the long run me downloading mp3's illegally actually increased the money the music industry made off of me.

Maybe the big guys like DC and Marvel take that view.

For years they were told that 0 days were being shared on NNTP, warez sites, direct connect, IRC, etc and they never did anything about it.  I've read that they've been told about the torrents that spread 0 days and they still do nothing.

This has been going on since the mid 90s (I remember when Yahoo ran on 10 servers and got shut down every night for routine maintenance so yes, I was there at the beginning!) and they've never done anything.  I think they view it as a minor loss in the grand scheme of things, or maybe they take the long view.  I never would have bought the Walking Dead omnibuses if I hadn't dl'd the first couple of years to read before doing so...

[tilliban]

I think scanners don't think in a commercial way.
We are trying to complete runs of books or even the body of work of whole companies.
And only THEN would it make any sense to sell something - if it's COMPLETED.
True, there are some series available in completion.
Then again the scanner looks at these and says: "Nah, can't sell 'em, quality of scans is varying too much..."
Which brings me back to my starting point:
I think scanners don't think in a commercial way.

[bchat]

I think they just don't care, or they feel like it would cost them too much to go after so many individuals that it wouldn't be worth it.  ...
Maybe the big guys like DC and Marvel take that view.

For years they were told that 0 days were being shared on NNTP, warez sites, direct connect, IRC, etc and they never did anything about it.  I've read that they've been told about the torrents that spread 0 days and they still do nothing.

This has been going on since the mid 90s (I remember when Yahoo ran on 10 servers and got shut down every night for routine maintenance so yes, I was there at the beginning!) and they've never done anything.  I think they view it as a minor loss in the grand scheme of things, or maybe they take the long view.  I never would have bought the Walking Dead omnibuses if I hadn't dl'd the first couple of years to read before doing so...

I'm pretty sure Marvel & DC do care, since they have a track record of going after people that are illegally sharing their books.  There was that "online library" that got shutdown by Marvel, DC and almost every other publisher a few years, and then there was the blog on Wordpress that had links to tons of Marvel & DC books that magically disappeared one day around the same time.  Just because they don't go after every single person does not mean that they aren't willing to go after anyone, so why take the chance that the person they go after is going to be you?  In my opinion, it's probably more of a risk now to share files of any comic publisher's books, since most if not all of them are generating income by selling their own digital files and are now able to place a dollar amount on whatever losses they feel file sharing is causing them.