I just submitted "Assassin Of The Tsar" with no cover images and minimal to moderate details.  For cast I only listed Malcolm McDowell and only the director for crew.  I seldom feel like entering the entire cast and crew and since having the complete cast and crew listing is not particularly important to me I generally fill in the major actors and leave the rest for somebody else to enter.  So my contributed details were mostly technical/DVD release related; overview, running time, release date, rating, disc id, etc.  I listed my information source as DVD Empire and the contribution was rejected with, surprisingly, a notation.  "An invalid source, such as a third party database, was listed in the contribution notes. Use of a third party database is not allowed per the contribution rules."  The first time ever the anonymous reviewer has left a note on one of my contributions.

Anyway, my question is whether or not the rejection is valid.  I wasn't aware that an online retailer is a "third party database".  I was under the impression that the online retailer where the DVD was purchased was an authoritative source, particularly for DVD release details rather than cast and crew details.  If retailer sites can't be used that pretty much leaves only the DVD itself as a source.  If that's the case then rules should simply state that the DVD itself is the only valid source for DVD information.  That would be much clearer and less ambiguous.  Is an online retailer a definite invalid source?  I've listed retailers as at least one source on virtually all of my previous but recent contributions and this is the first time one was rejected.

In general, retailer information can only be used for prerelease profiles (because then there is no DVD to consult). Apart from a few DVDP fields, for which you HAVE to rely on external sources (e.g. Production Year and CoO, Release date), it is indeed the DVD itself that has to be used as a source.  This also applies to cast and crew credits, no matter how incomplete the cast and crew lists you're contributing.

And yes, an online retailer IS a third party database - quite a few of them even draw their data from the likes of IMDb.

For those few fields that do need external sources, be sure to check several databases. You'd be surprised how often you'll get different results.

For some fields, I'd recommend using verification tools, because all too often the info on the DVD cover is just WRONG. In particular: running time, video format, audio tracks, subtitles (you can verify these using a DVD player like PowerDVD) as well as region coding and single/double layer (for these you can use a tool like Nero Info Tool, DVDInfoPro etc.). If you use these, you can mention them in your contribution notes.

As an example, here are some contribution notes I used myself for a new contribution:

New contribution. Almost all data from disc. Cast and Crew Credits from the film's opening and end credits. Running time, video format and audio tracks verified using PowerDVD. Region and layer info verified using DVDInfoPro. Release date and RRP from find-dvd.co.uk.

Good luck and happy contributing!

Quoting Varuker:

Quote:
(...)
If retailer sites can't be used that pretty much leaves only the DVD itself as a source.  If that's the case then rules should simply state that the DVD itself is the only valid source for DVD information.  That would be much clearer and less ambiguous.
(...)

The rules do say that...

"The authoritative source for information submitted should be the DVD itself.  Please don't submit content from a third party database, and always verify the specifications printed on the cover."

Bottom line, anything that can come from the DVD, must come from the DVD.