Bootlegger news - Suspected bootlegger busted

[DeXonDAZ]

Bootlegger news - Suspected bootlegger busted

Police confiscate bootleg DVDsA Hamilton, Ont. man has been charged with copyright infringement for allegedly selling bootleg concert DVDs. The charges follow a bust by the RCMP.
Victor Avalis faced a total of five charges. Authorities said he was selling bootleg copies of performances by artists including Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and Nickelback.
According to the RCMP, approximately 1,140 DVDs, 1,570 VHS tapes, 340 CDs, 50 audiocassettes and 5 CDRs (video in CD format) have been seized.
The materials were allegedly being sold at a music memorabilia show at a downtown Hamilton hotel on June 13.
Police also seized recordings of concerts by the Guess Who, Neil Young, the Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and others. The RCMP say the concerts were illegally recorded in numerous venues in North America, including Toronto and Hamilton.
The Mounties were acting on a tip from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), which has also led the fight in Canada against illegal music downloading.
In a statement released by CRIA, Arden said she was "heartbroken" over the charges.
"Touring is an incredibly important part of my career as a singer/songwriter. It's my job and it's how I connect with people," the musician noted. "Something special was taken from me and my audience."
Avalis, a vendor at the memorabilia show, appeared in court in Hamilton on July 22.

I would be happy to hear your reaction on this one.

Labels: Bootlegger news

orig. posted by zazafromjohor

[Jonesounds]

It's a double-edged sword. I've never sold bootleg CDs or DVDs,but when I go to a memorabilia show and see someone that is and it's a really rare recording,I buy it.
When I download a bootleg CD or DVD,they are for my enjoyment and no one is making money of any kind.
The bootleggers that sell bootleg CDs and DVDs and make their living off doing so is where the line is drawn legally.

[FHS]

Selling bootlegs. What a slimeball. I'm glad they caught the pri@k. Don't drop the soap.

[binky2]

I used to go to bootleg (ahem....record) swaps in the old days. I still have some really cool LPs and vids from then. I could never take the risks or endure the hassles that the vendors did, but I never considered them slimy or worthy of contempt in any way. Some charged more than I thought they should and some had crappy boots, but collectively they turned me on to some great music that I would not have heard otherwise.

I like what Mick Jagger had to say on the subject. (paraphrased -- loosely) Bootlegs are fine but they aren't very good. There is nothing wrong with buying or selling them but you shouldn't pay or charge very much because the quality is low.

More or less that was the view of the Grateful Dead. They objected to high prices and low quality. To me these kinds of raids are like busting kids for smoking pot. The economies of the world are not crumbling because people are downloading mp3's or buying bootleg music at swap meets. The very existence of swap meets should tell the "industry" that people want something they aren't selling. I guess if I were a cop though, I'd rather raid bootleggers than meth labs...

[PhatPhuk]

That is actually an old news item from around 2 to 3 years ago.. probably around 2005, I saw it recently on a blogsite and wondered why it was being posted in 2008.

I bought a few things from this guy and he was always trustworthy and delivered the goods, no trickery, no selling you a "3" quality DVD while claiming it was a "10" quality, etc.. and a money-back guarantee if you were not pleased with the item.

this was in days before it was so easy to share/download via services like Rapishare, Megaupload, etc. Sometimes it was the only way to get a hold of that super rare item, or that special show that you attended.

This guy who was busted was not one of the "slimy" types, he was a fan of music, a major fan, and he was able to record/film a ton of shows and put them out there... the mistake he made was in selling them rather than just trading/sharing.

He actually produced quality stuff and held back some stuff that he considered to be garbage quality (for example, if there were so many security ducks that it was unwatchable and/or unlistenable).. he wasn't the kind who sold anything regardless of whether it was good quality or tenth-generation crap quality (refering to the audio/sound quality, not the music/performance itself)

[drowe3]

I discovered sites like this only about two months ago. Prior to that, I'd paid for every bootleg I'd ever gotten. Now I'm like a kid in a fucking candy store. They were expensive, but for many years, there were no other ways to get bootlegs. Most of the record stores I bought from would allow you to listen to the boots before purchasing them. I'd bought everything legit there was to buy and wanted more, and buying them was the only option, though prices were ludicrously high. Make no mistake, the powers that be will shut down this site and others like it at some point, then we'll be wishing that poor bastard was out of jail so we could buy boots.

[bmag5150]

In my experience bootleg recordings usually cost a lot more than official recordings, and the quality is rarely as good.
The people who buy the bootlegs are generally die-hard fans who have already purchased the official material at half the price.
The sellers, although profiting from the sale, are supplying the demand for rare recordings, and thereby making a lot of fans happy. If the record labels do not release them, they don’t exist, so how is the artist or the record label losing income from the bootlegs?

There are now many artists who sell their own official bootlegs on-line, e.g. The Who, Dream Theater, Metallica, etc, while others occasionally sell them on the night at the end of the show, e.g. Asia; both of these seem like good ways to keep the die-hard fans happy, while reaping some of the rewards for themselves.

The reality is that the RCMP would be much better off concentrating their efforts in apprehending and prosecuting counterfeiting pirates as they are the real culprits – they are the ones depriving the artists and record labels of due income by selling cheap copies of official material.

REMEMBER : SUPPORT YOUR FAVOURITE ARTISTS AND BUY THE OFFICIAL MATERIAL