Help! Bootleg or not? To catch a killer.

[Ulrich_Christensen]

Sorry for the triple post! You might struggle to get any actual info from Image as they were bought out in 2012 and merged with Acorn to make RLJ (though they still use both the Image and Acorn names).

You are right about the struggle to get in contact with Image and Rlj! Several emails posted to the and not a single answer, that's bad :p I really want them to say, you got a legit copy

As Sam has already told you, you will likely not be able to get a straight answer from them. Mergers and takeovers have a habit of losing records, so they might not even have the information you are looking for.

I know for a fact that many releases previously only available in snap case have been re-released in keep cases. I have some in my possession that were store-bought new. These were bought when snap cases were phased out. This was despite all information available said these were only available in snap cases.

The fact that your Disc ID from DVD Profiler matches the one they have in their database means that your disc is identical down to the authoring of the disc, since the Disc ID is a computed hash of information about the disc. Any changes would result in a vastly different ID from the general idea of hash algorithms is that small changes should be very visible to combat errors and tampering.
Any would-be bootlegger would have to have access to high quality equipment or the same disc duplication machines used for the original disc to pull that off. I find that very unlikely for a movie that produced for television and isn't exactly a prime blockbuster release.


I did some digging and I found an eBay listing for a keep case copy identical to yours here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TO-CATCH-A-KILLER-DVD-BRIAN-DENNY-MICHAEL-RILEY-/361533979791?hash=item542d1abc8f:g:9EYAAOSwLmVXDp5w from a top-rated seller (no negative marks), which lends some legitimacy to there being keep case copies of this.

I did almost fall off the chair seeing the price, but given that I spotted releases from the seller that I have in my collection and I got cheap years ago, I guess, it is just me not selling my old stuff on eBay that isn't available to buy any more.

My original point still stands though. I don't think this as a title that would have a professionally authored bootleg.


TL;DR: Your copy is legit and not a bootleg.

[Brent_Reid]

I've only just come across this thread and after initially thinking the OP was being unnecessarily paranoid and persistent, I discovered the damnedest thing: it turns out there are sh*tloads of pirated, keepcased copies of this title floating around!

Just check out this eBay seller, who's sold at least 60 copies within the past year. Here are pix of the most recent offending items.

I saw there was a single copy on Amazon UK for £15, so asked the seller some questions before buying. It quickly became apparent it was a counterfeit she'd bought unknowingly, so she pulled it from sale. I'll keep a sharp lookout for a legit copy and pick one up asap, as the film actually sounds pretty good. Kinda like my fave serial killer film, Citizen X, made around the same time and also for US TV.

In the meantime, is it worth asking the owner of the disc listed to confirm the region spec?