Guzzlefish Submission Guidelines

Guzzlefish is a community-built catalog of specific physical media releases, not simply movies and television titles.

A DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD, VHS, LaserDisc, UMD, or other release may differ from another edition of the same underlying work by barcode, artwork, packaging, playback region, releasing entity, disc contents, specifications, or other identifying details.

Those differences matter on Guzzlefish.

How Releases Enter Guzzlefish

Guzzlefish is designed to make adding physical media as easy as possible.

When you search by title or UPC, Guzzlefish may retrieve possible matches from external data sources so you do not have to enter every detail manually.

A source result is not yet a permanent Guzzlefish catalog entry.

When a user adds a release to their collection, Guzzlefish ingests the available information and creates or matches it to a release in the Guzzlefish database. From that point forward, the Guzzlefish release is its own record.

External sources may help establish or enrich a release, but Guzzlefish is not simply a mirror of those sources. Records can be corrected, expanded, and improved independently over time, including with information from multiple sources.

1. Search Before Creating a Release Manually

Before manually creating a release, search by:

• UPC or barcode
• Title
• Format
• Edition or packaging information

Whenever possible, begin with an existing search result.

If the exact physical release already exists in Guzzlefish, use that entry rather than creating a duplicate. If your copy is verifiably different, it may belong as a separate release.

2. Catalog the Physical Release

Guzzlefish catalogs the physical edition, not just the work contained on it.

Useful identifying differences include:

• UPC or barcode
• Cover artwork
• Slipcover or packaging
• Format
• Distributor, label, or other releasing entity
• Physical release date or year
• Playback region, such as Region 1, Region A, or Region Free
• Edition or printing
• Disc count or configuration
• Bonus discs or included content
• Season, volume, episode, special, or complete-series scope for television and other serial releases
• Special features
• Audio or subtitle options
• Other release-specific characteristics

Playback region belongs to the physical release. Work country describes where the underlying film or television work originated. These are separate metadata concepts.

Whenever possible, describe the copy you actually own or can reliably verify.

Do not assume that information from one edition also applies to another.

3. Variants Matter

Collectors often care about differences that a general movie database might consider minor.

Different cover artwork, packaging, slipcovers, reissues, retailer exclusives, alternate printings, or other identifiable physical variations can represent separate Guzzlefish releases, even when the movie and technical contents are otherwise identical.

For example, two DVDs containing the same movie may have different cover designs from separate printings. Guzzlefish should allow a collector to catalog those versions independently.

When adding a variant, provide enough identifying information for other collectors to distinguish it.

A useful test is:

Would a collector reasonably want to distinguish these two copies in their collection?

If yes, they should generally be capable of existing as separate releases.

4. UPCs and Barcodes

Enter UPCs, EANs, or other barcodes exactly as printed on the physical release.

Do not substitute a barcode from a similar edition simply because the title, artwork, or specifications appear similar.

A UPC is an important identifier, but it is not the sole definition of a release. Physical-media publishing is inconsistent: distinct variants may sometimes share identifiers, while similar releases may receive different ones.

Guzzlefish therefore considers the complete physical release when determining whether entries represent the same edition.

5. Avoid True Duplicates

Guzzlefish should preserve legitimate collector variants while avoiding accidental duplicates.

A separate release may be appropriate because of:

• Different artwork or packaging
• Different UPC
• Different format
• Different playback region
• Different distributor, label, or releasing entity
• Different edition or printing
• Different disc configuration or included content
• Different season, volume, episode, special, or complete-series scope
• Retailer-exclusive presentation
• Another verifiable physical difference

A true duplicate is a second entry for the same physical release without a meaningful distinguishing characteristic.

Differences in retailer wording, listing titles, or descriptions alone do not create a new release.

6. Artwork Should Match the Release

Artwork should represent the specific physical edition being cataloged whenever possible.

Preferred artwork includes:

• A clear front-cover scan
• A clear photograph of the actual packaging
• High-quality artwork from a reliable source that matches the release

Avoid:

• Watermarked images
• Fan-made artwork
• Posters used in place of release artwork
• Artwork from a different edition
• Unnecessarily low-quality images when a better source is available

Do not knowingly submit artwork belonging to another release.

7. Use Reliable Sources

Information may come from the physical release itself or reputable external sources, including:

• Packaging or discs
• Publishers, studios, or distributors
• Established physical-media databases
• Retailer listings
• Library or archival catalogs
• Other reliable reference sources

No external source should automatically be considered infallible.

When sources disagree, preference should generally be given to information verified from the physical release itself or corroborated by multiple reliable sources.

Guzzlefish may retain source information or provenance after data has been incorporated into its own database.

8. Improve Existing Entries

Once a release exists in Guzzlefish, contributors should improve that record rather than replace it whenever possible.

Useful contributions include:

• Correcting inaccurate metadata
• Replacing incorrect artwork
• Adding missing specifications
• Fixing title formatting
• Correcting UPCs
• Adding release-specific details
• Providing better supporting sources

Create a separate entry only when it represents a genuinely distinct physical release.

9. Do Not Submit Fabricated or Misleading Information

Do not intentionally submit:

• Invented releases
• Fake UPCs
• Deliberately incorrect metadata
• Unrelated artwork
• Promotional spam
• Advertising links
• Malicious or disruptive edits

Repeated abuse may result in contribution privileges being restricted or an account being suspended.

10. Corrections Are Part of the Process

Physical-media data is messy.

Retailers make mistakes. Databases disagree. UPCs may be reused or entered incorrectly. Packaging changes. International editions can be difficult to identify.

Correcting those problems is part of building Guzzlefish.

An imperfect contribution made in good faith is different from knowingly submitting false information. Make the best submission you reasonably can and improve it when better information becomes available.

11. When You're Not Sure

If you cannot confidently verify a field, leave it blank rather than guessing.

A partially complete but accurate record is better than a detailed record containing unreliable information.

If you are unsure whether something is a distinct release, provide as much identifying information as possible. As Guzzlefish grows, additional tools and community processes may be introduced for resolving uncertain releases, duplicates, and disputed information.

For catalog questions, contact Guzzlefish at guzzlefish.app@gmail.com.

A Public, Community-Built Catalog

Guzzlefish strives to make each release record as complete and accurate as reasonably possible. Automation and external data sources can help, but the database is ultimately built and improved by collectors. Mistakes, incomplete records, and uncertain details are part of that process, and every record should remain open to correction as better information becomes available.

Guzzlefish is also intended to be more than a private collection tracker. Public catalog records are designed to form a durable, searchable resource for physical-media collectors, researchers, and anyone trying to identify a particular edition. The work users put into improving the catalog should benefit the wider collecting community.

Our Goal

The goal is not to make every entry perfect on day one.

It is to steadily build a physical-media catalog collectors can trust.

Accurate when possible. Transparent when uncertain. Always open to correction.