Illegal to lend this DVD!

So me being myself, I decided to buy the entire Cowboy Bebop series. If you go through BestBuy or some other North American retailer, the set will cost you around $220. Prohibitively expensive; the kind of inexcusable price that promotes piracy. However, you can get the Japanese set for $36 at Japananimation.com. Comes with Japanese/English dubs and subs. That’s where I bought it.

Anywho, on the DVD itself, there was this pleasant note at the bottom:

It says: “All rights reserved. Unauthorized Copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, pblic performance and broadcasting prohibited.” [The typo on the word “public” is their own]

In other words, its illegal for me to lend this DVD, a DVD that I own and bought, to a friend. Fookin ridiculous. I’m glad the person in charge of writing that text doesn’t work for a publishing house – I sure wouldn’t want to be arrested because I lent a book to my sister. Or my mom.

I take it, by both the typo and the anal repetition of the affair [copying = reproduction, public performance = broadcasting], that this was made-up by some bloke on the spot. That said – how upsetting.

UPDATE: Oooohhh it gets better! Check this gem out! This is the back cover of the DVD product.

So – viewing this product in coaches, hotels, hospitals, oil rigs or schools is grounds for “civil action” and “criminal prosecution”. I’m also not allowed to exchange this DVD for another. Or edit it for fun on my computer. Again – book analogy. I’m not allowed to write in this book (edit); or exchange it with a friend for another. The fact that they go out of their way to prohibit its use in oil rigs and hospitals just seems heartless; though it seems odd that they went out of their way to make mention of it.

Were there too many people “illegally watching” this legal product on oil rigs? Wonder what kind of punishment one should get for airing this in a hospital room. Of course a hospital/school/institution/etc. wide broadcast is immoral; but such an activity is already prohibited under the fact that the DVD prohibits public viewing/broadcasting. They mean to block the personal viewing inside a room. Its like saying “oh we’re sorry, but you’re not allowed to read this book outloud in a hospital room.”

Media content industries sure get alot of leeway with copyright laws.