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  #1  
Old Feb 24, 2008, 02:17 PM
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Default SonMay

What is the VGMdb policy (if there is one) regarding SonMay (SM Records) releases? According to wiki they have legitimate Taiwanese rights to the albums. Should they get their own DB entries? Should information about the SM release be added to the original Japanese release page? Or are they just ignored? Thanks.
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  #2  
Old Feb 24, 2008, 02:24 PM
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I know this has potential to be somewhat of a controversial topic, but VGMdb's goal is to catalogue the music every game music album, and Sonmay's are real albums that we are likely to encounter. (In fact, I'd venture to say that most game or anime albums sold by vendors in the US are bootlegs.) We do have a category for bootlegs, and have tailored the templates so that the public can be educated about which albums are bootleg.

http://www.vgmdb.net/db/albums.php?id=5715

I think the 'bootleg' choice when submitting an album only shows up for staff at the moment. We'll probably change that soon, but in the mean time, there are plenty of non bootlegs to add. But if you've got a bootleg album with a nice set of scans, go ahead and submit it.
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Old Feb 24, 2008, 05:14 PM
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I'm quite skeptical that (a) a licensee is authorized to remove all mention of the original copyright holders on their releases, and (b) they managed to secure licenses from such a wide range of major music labels.

Also, none of the articles provided mention sources or proof.
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Old Feb 25, 2008, 10:25 AM
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The red warning text should be bigger and more aggressive... seriously!



I'd ignore them if I were the administrator... but would create a nice section outside the forum, directly on the site, discussing the bootleg problem and teaching people how and why to keep away whenever possible. I know some collectors who still don't know the difference and keep on buying fakes...
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Old Feb 25, 2008, 01:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LuxKiller65 View Post
I know some collectors who still don't know the difference and keep on buying fakes...
That kind of thing really pisses me off. Especially the asshole eBay sellers who sell those "custom" soundtracks and people buy them for like 80 bucks a pop. Grrrr. Maybe if we have a bootleg warning here on VGMdb, we can compile a list of sellers who are known to sell bootlegs to warn users of potential scams?

-Mike
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Old Feb 26, 2008, 05:10 AM
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I'd join the team working on that, count on me.

Only a bunch of sellers admit they have a fake for sale, but the vast majority advertises it as being an original import from Japan (for example, check eBay Germany and all those auctions with romanized Japanese titles, they're all cheap fakes). This is lying and nothing else. If this site gets known enough (it already is, but mainly from people who do know what a pirate is), having a list of sellers to avoid might be nice (some sites already have that though).

Now what is even worse is people who sell bootlegs at the same price as the original copies... It would take ages to list all eBay shops AND PHYSICAL SHOPS who sell EXCLUSIVELY PIRATE ALBUMS. How is it that nobody does nothing? Why not being the first ones to actually do something concrete against that?

I recall people on the Soundtrack Central calling the FBI about that ugly seller who used to make "salvage copies out of original Japanese discs"... he obviously printed homemade copies - I checked stuff from him with my own eyes and hands. They calculated an approximation of the money he earned each months selling fakes and it was enough to make a living.

And the Japanese companies who own the rights seem deaf to that. They're probably the dumbest part of the whole plot.
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Old Feb 26, 2008, 05:28 AM
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Well, if the Japanese companies can't do much about piracy in China and Taiwan -- their closest neighbours -- I doubt they'd be optimistic about their prospects elsewhere.
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Old Feb 26, 2008, 06:31 AM
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I've never heard about them actually trying to do something. Let's face it: they don't give a damn about what happens outside their small country, it's always been like that. I'd do something to prevent buyers from buying this shit and sellers from selling this shit, not to help the Japanese companies who hold the rights.
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Old Feb 27, 2008, 01:45 PM
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Big companies are like dinosaurs: They're moving slowly. And the Japanese ones are no different. But I know from the anime sector that some copyright holders started to fight against fansub groups (but it's far away from what e.g. music industry does).

But, compared with anime, VGM market is a little and special one. For game publishers (like Nintendo) it's some extra money and that's it. We should be happy about the fact. I like the VGM scene with all the databases, news sites, download offers and remix projects and I would puke if a company said "Woah! You stole music we had published ten years ago!!!".
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  #10  
Old Feb 28, 2008, 01:05 AM
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Are you saying, you don't mind ignorant (without offense of course) people are paying fake albums the same price as the originals because they have no idea there are fakes out there? I'm sorry but this "fight" has nothing to do with the copyrights' holders, it's really just to protect the buyers that we all are, and I think it's worth it.

I pay less than 10EUR for original copies and some people pay more than twice for fake ones... there's a problem, and it's up to people like us to spread the word, I believe.
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  #11  
Old Feb 28, 2008, 09:13 AM
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No, to buy a fake if you know that's one, is absolutely not acceptable. Download /share music for free is one thing, support fakers with money another.

But from publisher's point of view it seems that's not a hot topic (and I really can't imagine that they know absolutely nothing what happens with the music).
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Old Feb 28, 2008, 12:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamu-Sumo View Post
No, to buy a fake if you know that's one, is absolutely not acceptable.
You're misunderstanding what he was saying. He meant that a lot of people buy fakes/bootlegs without knowing that they are in fact, just that. Which is why raising awareness of fakes/bootlegs can only be a good thing.
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Last edited by seanne; Feb 28, 2008 at 01:24 PM.
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  #13  
Old Feb 28, 2008, 12:51 PM
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I thought too he didn't quite get what I meant. Thanks for having pointed it out before me.

If people who buy fake copies and think they're buying official copies find out they've been mentally (lie), physically (lower quality music) and financially abused, they might change their mind and spend their money on original ones, since they are either as expensive as the fakes they buy or less expensive (sometimes more, but that's usually for harder-to-get and uninteresting-for-the-lambda-buyer) albums. I just stumbled on a guy who thought he'd bought official Zelda albums and was disgusted when I told him he had cheap fakes. It's those people I want to make aware.
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  #14  
Old Mar 1, 2008, 10:21 PM
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I've got a few SM releases and they generally sound fine. Final Fantasy V / Disc 2 has some iffy tracks, though I'm not 100% sure they weren't there in the original. The packaging is decidedly cheaper... but they do usually include a cheesy bonus sticker
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Old Mar 9, 2008, 09:59 PM
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I have a question. Does anyone have a SonMay album and its "legit" counterpart to 1:1 compare the tracks? I'm curious if they're the same or not. I realise it might not apply to every album but I'm curious if there are instances and what they are.
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  #16  
Old Mar 10, 2008, 03:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMAGFest View Post
I have a question. Does anyone have a SonMay album and its "legit" counterpart to 1:1 compare the tracks? I'm curious if they're the same or not. I realise it might not apply to every album but I'm curious if there are instances and what they are.
Do you mean compare the quality of the tracks? or just check if they are there or not? I've compared my SM releases to the track lists on sites like this and they are complete.

There is one track on my SM Final Fantasy V Disc 2, I forget which one, where there is some extraneous clicking. I don't know if its in the original release, but I can't imagine they would let it go out that way. Otherwise, I have not noticed any quality issues with the music.
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Old Mar 10, 2008, 08:27 PM
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I mean a quality comparison. It'd be really easy to rip lossless of each CD and just 1:1 compare the filesize and bytes of each track. If they're alike but not exact it might be interesting to see what the differences are.
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