Lee describes an unspoken rule in the fan community: "once the anime was licensed the fansubbed version should no longer be circulated". As a result, many fansubbers do not view themselves as pirates. Up until the late 1980s, fans were for the most part unable to obtain anime through official means, and the few anime that were licensed were rewritten to a much lower quality that even outraged the Japanese creators. Fans such as Fred Patten attempted to obtain official consent; however, no series really proved commercially successful. Until sometime after 1989 when subtitling became affordable signalling the rise of both fansubbing and the domestic industry, bootlegging was not financially feasible. Sean Leonard distinguishes fansubs from bootlegs as fansubs following the unspoken rule in the fan community with the intent to promote anime whereas bootlegs aim to make a profit. Many fansubs began to include a "This is a free fansub: not for sale, rent, or auction" notice as a response to bootleggers, and would encourage viewers to buy official copies. Anime Expo in 1993 was the first time the US industry representatives began talking more publicly about pre-existing copies eating into profits. For early fansubs due to the deteriorating nature of copying VHS tapes, official releases would be far superior in terms of visual quality, and thus there would be no competition between fansubs and official releases.