Monday, April 13, 2015

Ask A Stage Goddess - Why Not Buy Bootleg?




As a working actor here in Hollywood, let me take a moment to share a pet peeve of mine. Bootleg DVDs. Bootleg refers to goods illegally sold and distributed, without proper taxation, and at a loss to the original manufacturer of the goods. They are counterfeit, pirated, and again ILLEGAL.
I can almost guarantee that the DVD you purchase from the dude on a New York City subway or someone in a strip mall parking lot is of poor quality. It may have been shot by someone sitting in a movie theater with lots of extraneous noise and people walking across the screen. You may think you are saving a few bucks but it deprives all of us who work in the media industry of the pennies that add up to form our salaries. I've been trying to explain this to a cousin of mine for years. Maybe if went to his job on payday to collect his paycheck and deposited it into my back account, he would understand.


I actually can’t believe that anyone would purchase this third generation, second rate crap these days. How often are you going to watch a movie more than once unless it's on cable anyway? There are so many options for owning, watching or renting good quality movies these days. For even less money you can use iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go or Red Box to name a few.
So do me a favor, stop buying bootleg and spread the word.
Stage Goddess has got to pay her rent.
Thank you.

2 comments:

  1. So I guess the moral of this video is, "don't by bootleg". LOL --- I totally agree with you, Carlease. It's stealing - no ifs ands or buts. It's a punishable offense - even if you didn't know it was an illegal copy.

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  2. Very true, and very well-said! An artist's work is worthy of payment, through the proper channels. Great reminder - thank you!

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