Best or worst 'fake' CDs

Wait, wait, you're saying CD Maximum is a real label?!

EDIT - Oh, no, I understand what you mean. But the terminology is wrong; it's a pirate, not a counterfeit. It's not an attempt to make a legit-looking copy of a pre-existing album.

 

Well...it's an attempt (I assume, by a real label in Russia) to make a new two-fer/compilation look like legit goods to the folks in Russia, as well as other parts of the world. It's not really pirate or counterfeit...the industry terminology is "grey-market." It's legal in Russia and perhaps other parts of Europe. You see these cheap knock-offs popping up on iTunes all the time to the chagrin of the major labels who are constantly fighting to get them removed, using U.S. copyright law (and other legal precedents) as a hammer. Problem is, copyrights are different all over the world.

 

Yes. When it's a "holy grail" item, you tend to overspend. Also, when it's among the last things you need to complete a collection, the wallet opens a bit wider. Again- I got the last laugh, as I got the disc AND my money back from the seller.

Bought it back in 2009. Original SH.tv thread here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pretty-sure-this-is-a-counterfeit-disc.176722/#post-4252284

Here's a scan of the rear with the bar code:



I believe that the code is the correct one for this title, but on OTHER discs in the series, the code appeared on the obi. There was no obi on this CD, nor did I buy it expecting one.

Harry

 

Oh - and the purveyor of this BEYOND CD is STILL selling it on eBay (LAST ONE, only $49.99)!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Herb-Alpert...171265267449?pt=Music_CDs&hash=item27e03496f9

Harry

 

I've noticed some ridiculously cheap complete Bob Dylan boxes on ebay in the last week or so being sold by U.S. sellers. I am sure they are fake, but are there any telltale signs?

 

Harry, thank you. That's helpful.
Well, the barcode does show up on Discogs.com as being for that title.
http://www.discogs.com/Herb-Alpert-Beyond/release/3094514
I don't think that proves anything...I'll do a little more digging.

 

Yep, pirate.

 

You'll notice that the discogs page mentions that this D32Y disc was part of the "Audio Masters Plus" series, which basically all A&M CDs of the era belonged to, yet the disc face is missing the "AM+" logo that's present on the legit release. And just for comparison purposes on this page, here are the two pictures. First is the counterfeit, second is the legit release:





Harry

 

I see what you're saying, but if its a digital 'clone' does it really matter? The music is the same. Identical, in fact.

 

It only mattered in the sense of being a collector of Herb Alpert's original CDs. I already owned a digital copy of the original CD, sent to me years ago by another collector. So, yes, it's a nice fake - but it IS a fake.

If you were collecting coins and all you needed was a 1909-S VDB penny, and someone sold you one that had faked the VDB initials, AND charged you a going market rate for the purchase price, would it really matter to you? It IS a penny after all. It was minted in the proper year. And the fake "VDB" is quite readable. Does it really matter to you?

Harry

 

I see what you mean, yet… I don't collect discs so much as music. Though admittedly I do have the same lp in several editions with different sleeves, so to send money for the one I was 'missing' only to get a bootleg in return would p*ss me off a bit.

 

Thanks for posting that image. Check this out; it's the Discogs scans for the D32Y release. It shows the legit disc face and a back cover with that barcode:

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=3094514

...from which I surmise that maybe, just maybe, there were legit back covers printed with AND without that barcode and that the counterfeiter happened to have one with it.


Plausible?


BTW, I checked and verified that the disc label scan and the back cover scan were in fact uploaded by the same user, negating the possibility of the back cover scan being from the fake.

 

I see other examples (with that 4-digit country code) from Japan..a few from Hong Kong. The significance of the "T" prefix is throwing me for a loop. But ultimately, those numbers just mean where the manufacturer is registered, not necessarily where the product is actually made.

 

What a neat idea.

 

Those CD maximum Beatles discs used the '87 CDs for both their UK and US titles.

 

I believe that I have that one. Why do you believe that it is a counterfeit?

 

Funny, I remember seeing that disc for sale in a shop in Germany when I was stationed there. I almost bought it. Can not for the life of me recall why I did not.

 

Their loss for never releasing an official best-of comp.

 

Come to think about it, AC/DC never did put out a greatest hits compilation. The grammar on this one might have been a giveaway: "Greatest Hell's Hits"

 

Picked this up in the early 90's, no effort whatsoever to hide it's bootleggy-ness, PSB-1 in the CD matrix

 

For anyone playing along at home, I've just managed to obtain a genuine copy of Herb Alpert's BEYOND. It's the D18Y version listed here at Discogs:

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=3094529

This one's surely genuine, without a doubt. It's got the right fonts, the right logos, everything's spelled correctly, the materials are all as they should be, it has inserts with Japanese catalog stuff and credits - everything but the obi for this release (pictured at Discogs, above).



Harry

 

Well done! How much did you pay? If you don't mind me asking...

BTW, can you find me an original version of Barry Gibb's 'Now Voyager'CD, being as you're on a lucky streak?! That's what inspired me to start this thread!

 

You are kinda making big assumptions about discogs users. I don't know anything about this particular user, but it's not usual to find people adding data and images sourced from the internet rather than their actual collection.

It doesn't mean that there aren't two different versions (they may be two versions - one for each pressing, with artwork unique to that pressing); I would just urge caution.

 

It was just over $100, and normally I wouldn't spend that much, but it's one of only two Herb Alpert CDs that I didn't own in genuine form.

Harry

 

Sure. Some of them are very rare.