04-12-2006, 01:54 AM
fastsixty6 Wrote:Yeah, it all seems rather confusing.
So is it illegal for this website to be up and running and functioning as a business? Is it illegal to purchase HK DvD's? It seems to me if these company bought licensing, but it's illegal for them to reproduce and sell it, it's some what redundant for the people holding those rights to sell them in the rights in the first place.
ok ok ok, let me try this on for size. It's illegal for them to sell it/reproduce it, but we buy it fair and square, and it's not our problem but there's (FX, MAC, etc).
Do I sound like I get it yet?
Its all very shady. This website pays import tax when the discs come through customs. So customs doesn't know or doesn't care they're not the official product since it all looks very professional. Also i think JJ pays sales tax for his company.
Sometimes a cetain US anime company contacts this website or other HK website's with a cease and desist (sp?) letter telling them to stop selling so and so sets. They have never sued a HK shop but if they would they would probably win but its just not worth the effort since there are so many places to get these sets. Kinda like downloading music of Kazaa. They can shut down Kazaa but there are dozens of other places that will pick up where they left of so its not worth the money and time.
The only thing that can be done to stop these sets is going to the people who make them in Asia and american anime companies just don't have the power and funds to do that.
About it being illegal to buy them from here, I don't know. I think buying them is not illegal but selling them is but i'm not sure. There are also alot of sets sold here that are not licensed in the US and that complicates it even more since in theory the only way we can see those shows is through HKdvd's.
But don't worry about getting busted or buying these discs. Noone I know of has ever even had their package confiscated by customs as long as its not hentai. That's also the reason why we aren't completely sure as to how the law sees these sets.