How do I know the poster I have acquired is an original and not a fake? For good reason, this is the most common question asked by new buyers in the Cinema Poster market.
Before attempting to answer this question, it is worth clarifying some definitions. We will then discuss five key checks you can to authenticate a poster.
Original/ Genuine/ Authentic: ‘Original’ Movie posters have been commissioned by film studios to promote a cinema release and the print-work will generally be of the highest standards.
Reproduction: A reproduction is a copy of an original poster that hasn’t been authorised by the film studio that owns the copyright. In many cases, this may not be illegal as the poster has fallen out of copyright and into the public domain. Provided a reproduction is not passed off as an original, it could be argued that there is nothing ethically dubious about this practice.
Fake / Bootleg: Â A fake poster is a reproduction of an original that is sold on the premise the poster is an original. A seller may knowingly or unknowingly sell a fake poster as original which is why it is important to scrutinise every poster you buy.
Re-release Poster: If a film receives a cinematic re-release (often on the anniversary of its first release), the studio will re-print cinema posters for the release. Although not printed for the film’s first release these are original cinema posters.
Now, what should we investigate when trying to authenticate a poster and distinguish between an original and a fake one?
Size
A cinema poster will have defined dimensions. For example, a UK quad poster will be 40“ x 30“. US One Sheets printed before 1985 measure 27″ x 41″. The more recent US one sheets are approximately 27″ x 40″. A poster that varies from the expected dimension by half an inch or more suggests the poster may have been cropped in the printing process. Cropped artwork on the edges of a poster is a very clear sign the poster is a fake. It is unclear why bootleggers consistently fail to produce full size or uncropped posters.
Of course, an original poster may also have been trimmed to fit a display. Many UK quads have been trimmed to fit displays on London Underground advertising. However, if an original poster has been trimmed this should be clearly flagged by the seller as it reduces the value of the poster.
Print Quality
As soon as you unroll or unfold a poster, ask yourself if what you seeing looks right. Compare the poster you are looking at with the other great looking movie posters you have seen before and know to be real.
Even the smallest lettering on the poster should be ‘sharp’. The ‘union logo’ that can be found on many posters is particularly small but should be legible. Fuzzy or pixelated lettering suggests scanning of an original for reproduction purposes may have occurred. Authentic posters are printed with offset lithography which gives the lettering their sharpness. Laser printing typically produces a residue while the edges on items printed with inkjet can be blocky. Grab a magnifying glass to perform these checks if you have one.
Paper & Finish
Ask yourself when the poster you acquire was printed. If the poster was printed 10 years ago and is still ‘Minty white’, this can suggest foul play. Printing on acidic paper will tan (get darker) over time.
 Observe the type of finish that has been used to print the poster. Gloss has a shiny, light-reflecting finish that’s designed to catch the eye and emphasize colour contrast. Matte has a flat, shine-free finish that’s designed to emphasize depth and detail without creating a glare. Although cinema posters can be printed with either finish, posters from the 60’s and earlier tend to be printed with a matte style finish.
Single or Double Sided
Generally, cinema posters printed from the 90’s onwards are double-sided. If you acquire a poster for a new release that is single-sided it is worth questioning. Authentic cinema posters for new releases can, of course, be printed single-sided. We have acquired a number of BFI posters in the last 5 years that are single-sided. We have also received fake double-sided posters. The intention here is clearly to deceive the buyer so beware that a double-sided poster does not guarantee authenticity.
Check online
For every ‘bad actor’ in the movie poster business, there is an army of collectors and dealers ready to flag the fakes they produce. Specific fakes are well documented online so if you have suspicions about a poster put it in a search engine.
What we have just discussed are not hard and fast rules. Rather they are guidelines of things you should look out for when acquiring a poster. We hope they help as you grow your collection of cinema posters.
If you would like to read more about spotting fakes, check out this article which compares the characteristics of an original and fake Reservoir Dogs UK quad poster.
