Bootlegs

Hi. Does anyone know the law regarding recording concerts? And also, what about selling the recordings?

 

Don't peoplpe "trade them" instead of selling.

 

Trade my recording of X for your £10?

 

It is illegal, and if you are caught selling in any quantity you will be prosecuted. One of my friends is a casual record dealer and did record fairs, he was busted for peddling a few home manufactured concert CDs and VHS tapes and was lucky to escape with his house after a court case that dragged on for several years. His own largely legitimate and very valuable record collection was impounded (stolen) by the police and never seen again along with his computer and audio equipment.

The powers that be are dumb (they have astoundingly little product knowledge) and are incredibly slow moving, so if you are caught expect to loose over two years of your life whilst they fanny about checking (and "loosing") every single item that you have even looked at.

The bottom line is that it is simply not worth it – I will never sell any bootlegged or pirated material and would strongly advise that people avoid it too.

Tony.

 

TBH, I only have one item in my music collection, which is a rare CD of The Travelling Wilbury's Volume 1 & 3. Such a rare and unusual find (only cost £10), that I couldn't resist not buying it. Apart from that, I'm more than happy to buy the original LP/CD of an artist/album.

 

Alot of stuff seems to be available somewhere on tinternet as mp3s so its distributed free anyway. Was it something specific or are you thinking of doing it? I've recorded concerts before but only passed around to people I know

 

I'm asking after searching ebay and noticing quite a few live recordings, some of which seem to go for a fair bit.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/joanna-newsom...ryZ58588QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nearly £18 with 3 days+ to go!

I wouldn't mind a copy myself, but at that price it got me thinking about it. I've recorded a few gigs for mates bands simply with a portable minidisc and a decent mic, and the qualities reasonable.

I just wanted to know the score on the legal situation.

 

Loads of folk seem to sell a pile of them on ebay but, as Tony says, it's not worth it if you have anything to lose. I also know of at least one chap who is currently going through a similar nightmare.

Music wouldn't be the same without bootlegs, although many are absolutely crap sound quality. Some bands don't even know what a live recording is! Take Zeppelin (until the recent "How The West Was Won") as just one example. At the other extreme, some bands release loads of live stuff - Pearl Jam come to mind here.

I believe that bootlegs - as opposed to counterfeit copies - do not hurt an artist's sales at all, as the buyer likely has all the official recordings anyway.

 

I'm sure I remember once hearing that Pearl Jam were the MOst bootlegged band around. Not sure how you go about measuring that, but there you go.

I agree with you about bootlegs not hurting sales. As you say, someone willing to pay out for what's possibly a crap live recording, will be a "fan" who will have the official albums already.

 

strange how some bands openly encourged bootleging,the gratefull dead being the most famous,even given a direct feed from the desk if asked nicley.

 

I learnt my lesson buying Machina II on ebay, the last Smashing Pumpkins album. That was 25 copies on vinyl to be bootlegged. Paid £10 for 2cds thinking they were from someone with the LP, turned out to be downloaded in AWFUL quality mp3 and put on CD. Cheers, I couldn't have done that myself. Its not even any good. Mind you neither was Machina really.

 

T o quote ebay's listing policy:

Do not list unauthorised copies of live shows or concerts on eBay.

Warning
Listings offering bootleg CDs and video may be ended early by eBay. Multiple violations of eBay's bootleg recording policy could result in the suspension of your account.

Read more information on copyrights.


[End quote]

In short, any seller offering bootleg, mp3 copies that are unofficial releases are breaking ebay's policies and the law (check out the BPI web site for further info on this).

If you notice sellers on ebay selling bootleg material you would be quite within your rights to report these to ebay under their 'Report Listings Violation'. I have done this before myself and it has worked with great success.

If I have ever got hold of a live show I have always offered them to my friends for free or traded it for other live shows.

One other observation I have made is that people who justify the whole mp3/bootleg for sale ethic are the first to jump up and down shouting when they are not happy with the quality of a similar purchase they have made. There are alot of double standards with people on this whole issue, which again is why I offer up anything I have for free.