A lot of Bollywood fans are eagerly waiting for the release of Shahrukh Khan’s Veer-Zaara and Swades on DVD, so that they can get their favorite stars’ movies close to them and can watch them anytime they want. The DVDs are also expected to have an additional DVD containing the making of the movie and some other exclusive material. But a little known fact is that the movies are already in the market and are sold openly on the internet. So here is an exclusive report on the DVD Piracy.

Not too long ago, Baazee.com’s CEO was arrested due to the MMS Scandal. Baazee.com is not the culprit this time, but the culprit is its parent company Ebay (NasdaqNM:EBAY). Ebay is an auction site, which lets people sell their own products through Ebay. Ebay’s Uk division (ebay.co.uk) is flooded with Bollywood DVDs, selling them at very cheap prices. Most of the DVDs are sold for £2.99 to £4.99, which is about 1/3 of the cost of an average Bollywood DVD. One will definetly doubt that the DVDs may not be original but replicas of the original.

If this was not the limit, the sellers are selling Veer-Zaara, Swades and Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo DVDs, which haven’t been released by their producers.

Veer-Zaara, Swades, Bride and Prejudice and many more are being sold at Ebay, even before they have been released as official DVDs.

Even the views from the buyers tell us the whole story. In one case, the buyer complains about the DVD “very poor picture quality and, refused exchange or refund” and the seller replies “others are very happy with it, quality is good for a movie thats just released!!”

One of the seller had posted an image of the product, we are talking about Veer-Zaara’s DVD. The image in the product description can make anyone think that the product is real, while the fact is that Yashraj Films doesn’t claim of any DVD release in UK or elsewhere.

Indeed Ebay and other portals have made it easier for people to sell products online, but they should also keep a check on the sellers. Ebay should verify the product and the seller when a seller gets a bad feedback and the buyer claims that the DVD was not original. Yashraj Films is responsible for not making aware of the product’s exact details. A lot of people think that they are buying real DVDs as they are not aware of the DVD’s release date or any information about it. It is the producer/distributor’s responsibility to create an awareness among the viewers that there are a lot of pirated copies being sold in the market, online or otherwise and should be avoided.

Not all the sellers selling Bollywood DVDs on Ebay are selling pirated versions. A lot of them are selling genuine DVDs and CDs and that too at lower prices as they do not have too many overheads as Ebay handles most the auction process. There are also a few sellers who are selling genuine DVDs of Veer-Zaara and Swades. They mention in their product description that the DVD hasn’t been released yet and it is a Pre-Order.

All the concerned parties have been informed in regard to this issue.

Disclaimer: This article is not written to promote the people who sell these DVDs but has been written to create an awareness among the Bollywood fans about piracy.

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