The supposed unofficial discs look just like the Sony DVD+R versions you can get at the local Costco in my area. Plain white, ready for an inkjet printing.

Sometimes the DVD rental companies get different versions than reatil. I would only be worried if the suspected discs were single layered, while knowing the retail version came on a double layered disc. Your not getting an official copy if the movie is compressed.

several studios are making low-budget versions of dvd's for netflix without all the extra features and easter eggs so that there's still an incentive to buy the real thing at full price. i think the cheapo labels and practically disposable discs are along the same lines.

just because something is on a single layer disc does not mean that it is a copy, there are plenty of commercial DVDs that are single layer...

certainly not outside the realm of possibility that someone "traded up" by renting anime discs and returning their old bootlegs. This could explain why the discs are not blue/purple. But just cause it's got a wonky menu doesn't mean its a bootleg, whatever company released the disc may have just botched the menus.

Anyone who thinks that Netflix is bootlegging is an idiot, and I really don't think it was anyone's intention either.

If they ARE bootlegs, then all that anyone was implying was that Netflix bought some discs from a wonky distributor in Bootlegistan.

I think Netflix is buying "volume" copies, which have very plain labels. I've noticed that on many movies I've received lately, they all have rather dull looking labels. Do I really care? No. Though I don't buy many DVDs new anymore, I would rather prefer them use the more plain looking labels and packaging just to keep the price down. Its not like I hang them on the wall for decoration.

4.3gb versions of DVD's are copies/bootlegs from soneones (i.e. Not Netflix's) computer that some clown has compressed, copied and returned the copy to Netflix.

Commercial DVD's are dual layered and are 7+ GB and will not copy on a cheap dvd burner (you need a dual layer burner and dual layer disks)

I don't care what the disc looks like! I rented it to watch the movie, not ogle the label.

Ok, Here's how it works. The studio works out a license agreement on each title with netflix , this is established before ANY copies or formatting is done with the masters. The masters are supplied to netflix and the duplication is done at a duplication facility. I'm sure they can work to get just copies of the movies in their regular packaging if that comes out to be a better price per unit However, it is VERY likely that you will get something that appears to be a fake.

The paper labels are just cheap... We used those for a while, but the laser on the DVD is much nicer but costs a little more. So.. more than likely you have a cheap dub that came from lightening dubs or something where they still use paper labels.

This whole thing is lame, because there is not some conspiracy about Netflix making copies... this is just how it works with the studios and vendors. I'm sure netflix throws away a TON of dvd's everyday. a disk traveling through the mail, sitting on someone's floor with kids trampling all over it for a month or more, and then having it returned through the mail. They are bound of throw some of them out. So, having a cheaper duplication rate and cheap labels actually makes sense.

xtc.. sorry but that's wrong. There have been court cases that reaffirm no special license is needed to rent a movie. It is completely legal within current copyright laws (until the MPAA can buy new ones).

[entrepreneurs.about.com]

@esd2020: actually there are special licenses for renting movies. when I worked at Blockbuster, the dvds cost over 100 a piece becasue they were to be rented out. otherwise places like blockbuster would only have to rent each disc 4 times to turn a profit, not 20 times...

I have no clue, but i've seen the gray discs MANY times and have never assumed that their pirated by either users (not worth the work for the average movie thief) or especially netflix (why the HELL would they do that? they like the inside of courthouses?)

the logical, most likely deduction (as others have made) is that they buy BULK from the studios/distributors and both sides have agreed that it's a waste of money and their profits to rent pretty disks. you watch and return. nobody cares about the disk aesthetic.

it MUST be as simple as that.

I have also noticed that smaller movies (indie or not huge hits) ARE the fancy discs as - again if you think about it - both netflix and the studios aren't even gonna press enough of them to worry about gigantic orders and discounts.

one is from a more cimershal / expinsive pressing the other is an elchepo pressing sold in discount stores / last run. sets

if you run across a burnt disc you'll know it by the data side. burned discs use a photo sinsative die tuned to the burning lazier pressings have that gold/tin color.
if you know your disks you can spot it easy.

This helps Netflix keep costs down and maintain their high standards of service. Don't ruin things with your petty "clever" whining.

If someone at Netflix had checked that DVD, even an idiot or someone on their first day would have known it wasn't a legit copy.

There may be instances where an older DVD was "retail only" but now it is the only version availible and the studio doesn't mind that it is being rented. I'd imagine that Netflix has some really interesting licenses with the studios. For instance, for new releases of big hits, they will need a ton of copies. Since they don't use the cases, the studio could just deliver spindles of disks, with an agreement and limited license that 80% will be used up or destroyed by the end of the first year.

Special discs for Netflix doesn't explain a faulty menu.

I've seen nothing here to indicate that special disks for Netflix aren't the case. This is a non-story, the kind consumerist is becoming famous for these days (I'm looking at you sack of Amazon stories).

None of this explains the faulty menu, though, the paper label instead of silk-screening (which just looks bad even if it's legitimate), or why Netflix doesn't mention it in their FAQ specifically so people don't think they're getting bootlegs.

@nothingistrue:

You hit it on the head. Just like I log into volume licensing servers for software (because maintaining over 200 Microsoft disks is a pain in the butt)Netflix bulk purchases stipped-down bulk copies of movies. If you have noticed, lag time for receiving new releases has dropped considerably since this format was implemented a year or two ago. It wouldn't surprise me to see a content server at Netflix with a capability to press DVDs as needed. The whole thing could be electronically licensed and controlled. Netflix gets the releases ready for Tuesday shipment quicker and the cost of media and jacketing is absorbed by them, not passed on by the movie houses. Pretty much how Koolconnect and Lodgenet handle digital media content to hospitality (without the DVD pressing aspect of the process).

It will be interesting to see if this starts happening with the Blu-Ray movies as well.

Has anyone noticed that the Bones label is not centered on the disc? Real DVDs are silk screened in a machine, and the labels are always centered perfectly. The Bones label is clearly not genuine.

It is possible that a user could burn copies and replace the original, but probably unlikely. Most of the bulk discs I've seen are grey label, but there are a lot of different manufacturers, and they may change the specs often.

They are not fakes..

Unless they've figured a way to make you sign/click-sign a EULA on a movie, you can rent, sell, or set on fire any single copy of a film you actually buy, so long as you don't reproduce it or "publicly perform" it.

There's no way that Netflix is copying themselves, if just because Netflix setting up a DVD pressing factory would be news. Plus, the studios would never, ever allow it.

I want to give NetFlix the benefit of doubt here. I don't use Netflix (don't watch enough movies to warrant it).

My guess is that they are either copies that they produce in-house but still pay royalities or copies to replace damaged DVD's. I would think everything is on the up-and-up.

@midwestkel:

Err. Yes, it does. What law prevents me from renting out a disc that I own and am legally allowed to sell?

This is the whole point of the First Sale Doctrine. Once a copyright holder sells me a copy of their work, they no longer have say over what I do with it (provided I don't break any laws, of course).

Movie studios (and certainly book publishers!) might wish it weren't true, but if you own a DVD or a book, you can loan it to as many people as you want. So long as you don't copy it or perform it.

There's no such thing as a "sale only" DVD

I take it all back. DVDR's are only silver in the unfettered expanses of my imagination.

Compression suffers enough on DVD; I can't imagine that these counterfitters have the decency to actually rip them onto dual-layer disks.

Netflix ought to look into this.

@jld:

Got a source for that?

@Bix: Thanks, I figured there had to be a reason there. Actually, now that I rack my brain, I think I may have gotten a few of the older ones where they have the fullscreen on one side and the widescreen on the other, just not ones where they had the special features on the other side.

Jay, could you someone else with the capability please edit the original post to explain that it's not a customer-burnt copy because those would have purple bottoms and Muffinman says that these have silver bottoms? Eleventy zillion people keep commenting that it's a possibility without reading the comments which explain that it's not.

My Netflix DVDs come looking one of four ways:

A: I will revive a DVD with original artwork on the disk WITH a red sticker in the center that reads "property of Netflix" ( i.e weeds)

B: ..or a plain gray/silver DVD with just the name of the movie printed on it With none of the original artwork ( ie. Cloverfield)

C……sometimes the Netflix logo is also printed on these sliver DVDs

D:…or a DVD with original art without stupid red sticker
(ie. Juno)

I wouldn't be surprised by this at all. Or maybe Netflix sends out burned copies on purpose so people don't jack/break the real ones?

@randomd00d:

The menus appear to not be working properly on at least 1 DVD.

@goose666:

The fake-seeming disc was compared to a legit US disc that was not low quality at all.

@cronick:

The Blockbuster thing is sort of an urban legend. The only movies cut were NC-17 and unrated movies that were then re-rated R.

These are all legit, albeit from Netflix likely scratched and covered with peanut butter (they should have an allergy warning).

The grey ones are special Netflix editions. Though the content is the same, they cost much less to manufacture.

Back in the day, Blockbuster started the trend by demanding that the studios produce "clean" versions of films that excluded any romantic scenes. Oddly though, violence was perfectly fine with them.

Do the DVDs consistently fail to work?

Are the labels so fake that a casual visual inspection could reasonably be expected to pick them out?

If not, then it is not their problem and really shouldn't be you problem either. I think we have bigger customer service issues to gripe about, other than unusual labels on functional DVDs.

They probably buy bulk licenses for content and can burn their own replacements when they get damaged or lost.

I always thought this was a "duh" situation. I get tv seasons from netflix all the time and they are always laser ripped copies with lightscribe (grey label with silver wording. Just figured it was something Netflix did. I never see any quality differences so I'd assume they use either dual layer or high quality disks. Not really a big deal to me.

@esd2020: Just because you buy a DVD and you are legally able to change ownership does not mean you can rent it out for profit if it says that.

@montag007: The DVD's you are talking about are the DVD's consumers can buy from the stores for personal use.

Every movie I have seen has been more than 5.0GB and they are pressed, thats why they are silver or gold on the bottom.

You can get bootleg copies of DVD's from overseas that are pressed, so they dont have the purple or green bottoms so you cant dismiss them as genuine.

@ludwigk:

Got a link? As someone who does a lot of DVD burning, I'd love to see them. I remember silver dye CD-Rs being around at one point but I've never seen silver dye DVD+-Rs.

@garykung:

This doesn't explain the messed up menus, the compression on Michael Clayton mentioned by a commenter, or the episodes not matching the listing on the top of the disc.

They are not fake. They are the no distributed (for sale) version of the DVD.

Somehow I have been wondering the same problem, that how come every single DVD that I rent is alike. Then I look that the DVD itself, and it says it is for rental only.

So I think those are the special rental edition...

@Carencey:

Double-sided DVDs kinda suck horribly in that they are really easy to damage (compared to regular DVDs) so I could maybe see the studios providing 2-disc versions of double-sided discs when asked.

I'm pretty sure that I've gotten double-sided discs from them, but I guess it could be on a case by case basis.

My guess is that someone is copying the discs, keeping the original for their own collection, then sending Netflix the copy.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever received a double sided disc from Netflix. When I buy DVDs, they frequently have the special features on the other side, but Netflix discs almost never do. A lot of times I get discs that I can tell were intended to be two-sided, but were split into separate discs. These did not have the fake looking labels, and on the outside of the envelope was a note to the effect of "Please note. Although the menu indicates that special features are located on the reverse of this disc, they are on a separate disc." Or something like that, that's my wording. I had thought that meant that the distribution companies made a special version for large rental operations like Netflix, although I don't really know why they can't just send us a double-sided disc.

Also, does anyone really know what happens when you submit a damage report to Netflix? Does that flag the disc you're returning for checkup?

My brother in law did a case study on Netflix when he was working on his MBA. They almost went bankrupt when they were purchasing the movies, then they went into a profit sharing plan with the movie companies, and I don't know if they have done this, but I imagine they have the right to copy them as long as they keep track, since they work with the movie houses.

did they not play? whats the problem? it's not like you bought the cd's and keeping it forever in your collection. Watch the show and send them back. Maybe put a note saying that it's counterfeit.

netflix could be in some trouble for renting "sale only" dvds (assuming they came by them in a non-legitimate way). more likely, a subscriber lost their rented copy & bought a replacement.

I've never gotten an obviously bootlegged dvd from Netflix, but I've definitely had the "split double disc" thing happen many, many times. I watched most of West Wing seasons 1-5 via Netflix, which are supposed to be double-sided discs with 4 (or 3) episodes to a side. Splitting the discs stretches a 4 disc season into a 7 or 8 disc one, which, if you're on the 1 or 2 at a time plan, like I was, can take up almost 2 months of subscription time.

@Jason Ferguson:

We're not just talking about the disc art, though. The menus are messed up/wrong. Plus, the disc art looks much, much more questionable than the example grey disc at Hacking Netflix and others such as...

@bdsakx:

...are saying they're overly compressed on single layer DVDs (still cheaper even if it's a pressed DVD).

You might want to send this info over to the Hacking Netflix blog. They dont hack netflix, but it's info about Netflix and other online rental businesses, they might have some idea of what's going on or how to get a better response from Netflix.

If so they're committing massive willful copyright infringement. Enough that they'd be out of business if they copied any more than a handful of titles.

What makes you think it's accidental?

[www.hackingnetflix.com]

FYI, for those who are saying that "maybe they're copies made by a staffer or whomver," it can't be if the bottom of the disc is silver. All burned discs have purple bottoms (or green if they're rewritable discs).

Also, keep in mind that while it's not shown in the blog post, mentioned in the letter and pictured in the blog post are faulty and poorly designed menus that are different from the originals.

My guess is that pressed bootlegs from a piracy-happy country somewhere in Asia.

ya think?

I'm actually considering this myself, now that Consumerist has induced me to infringe copyright. Thanks, Consumerist!

I used to work at Hollywood Video, and we had this happen all the time. Customer's would bring back burned copies, or home movies, thinking we wouldn't notice. We did. A piece of advice however: if you're going to return one of your burned movies in place of ours, make sure it's not kiddie porn. This actually happened once, and since the system remembers the last person who rented a DVD for this reason, the guy was caught.

I'm not an expert, but I do have a little experience with this, and I think that the movies are fake. There's too many corners being cut for it to be the studio or Netflix. For Netflix, it's an error to use human eyes to check every disk. Humans can forget what a disk is supposed to look like, and as long as it has a semi-legit looking cover, they'll accept it without knowing that its a copy. A machine however, could tell that that wasn't the way the cover was supposed to look, and stop it.

Sometimes its a joke how little effort the studios put into labeling their products... so it is possible some of these are real.

if it does NOT have a copyright line (including sub studios and production companies) or a CARA rating (with the little world symbol and registered mark) AS WELL AS an explanation of why it is rated what it is, then it is most likely NOT legit.

@Kat@Work: I agree. If you're going to make a fake label with a realistic-looking color logo for the DVD... why not just scan & copy the real disc label?

I've also rented Planet Earth twice from netflix. One instance I got the USA edition of the HD-DVD instead of the BBC edition yet the sleeve and page was marked as BBC. The USA edition has a different person doing narration and the episodes are also split differently on the disks. So I ended up only getting to watch 1 show because the other 2 were on the first (BBC) disk I got

Maybe this is why they are having their FANTASTIC used DVD sale.

Maybe Netflix copying discs to increase profit margin.

Perhaps they burn copies to replace scratched/destroyed copies?

Well, movie companies *wish* they could restrict movies to "sale only."

But once you buy a DVD, you own it. You can resell it on eBay or loan it to other people.

In the volumes Netflix purchases discs, I wouldn't be surprised if they came off the B or C line at the duplicating house, where the labels aren't as fancy (read: much cheaper).

You know BMG and Columbia House CDs? The ones where you get a crate full for a penny? Those are from the B lines, duplicated from the masters on the same equipment but have some quality issues that result in a less than 100% accurate pressing of the master disc. Thanks to error correction on CDs you won't hear the difference, but they are slightly less resilient when additional damage occurs due to mishandling.

I imagine DVD duplication with similar (but more evolved data correction) would have similar A/B/C lines.

Personally, I sometimes wish they had counterfeits when they lose all copies of a movie that's out of print, but that's just me.

Clearly these are dups. I also have to assume Netflix has permission, 'cause they're not trying to hide it.

First off, Netflix should know that the "hallmark" of a DVD isn't the lack of a silvery playing surface. Professional bootleg operations aren't churning out homemade looking discs, they're churning out professional grade discs that look legitimate even to the trained eye. My prediction is that Netflix is getting some of their DVDs from a wholesale group in China/Hong Kong/elsewhere that is passing off bootlegs as the real thing.

Never seen the funky labels tho.

I know I have gotten discs that are "for rental only" and some that look retail, and some that say they're two sided but aren't... who knows.

I don't really care to be honest - I pay for a service and they provide it - I don't really care if the movie studios get paid like they should for the movies.

However, I thought that movie companies were producing special disks just for netflix? I could be wrong.

Looks like you stumbled onto a weird set of fake DVD's (since most are from the same series). Netflix should do some investigating to see if perhaps this is tied to a specific customer.