This girl should be a superstar...

This girl should be a superstar…Danielle Spencer ‘Wish I’d been here’ – Music video via Youtube 29 March 2014 Russell Crowe on Twitter

On Saturday Russell Crowe tweeted a link to a video by Danielle Spencer for the song ‘Wish I’d Been Here’. There was just one problem, Australians for some reason are excluded from watching it. The video had 96 retweets and 258 favourites.

The video was loaded up on to the official Danielle Spencer YouTube site on 7 October 2010 so this was not new music or a video of the song. It was made by an Australian film company in Centennial Park, Sydney. There is another video of the same song on Danielle Spencer’s official YouTube  site which Australians can see that was load up on 6 October 2009 approximately one year earlier.

I am wondering why do musicians and artists make and load up videos in which people in their home country can’t watch?  It is not like Crowe or Spencer needed the money from exclusive deals. The video was made in 2010 when Crowe and Spencer were still happily married. I agree with Russell Crowe’s statement in that Danielle Spencer should be a superstar (except in the fact she already is, but that is here nor there). But why exclude Australians from watching this fabulous singer and musician as they are an important part of making this woman into a superstar that could be or is?

I can understand now why Australians resort to piracy when deliberately excluded from cultural and social situations like this. When I searched for Danielle Spencer on YouTube I initially watched pirated music until I found a legal copy of the video of the song Wish I’d Been Here and other videos on her official site.

About eight months ago I wrote a post about Australians and piracy. To understand Australian's role in piracy of any kind whether it be music, television or movies, people have to understand the history of their exclusion from significant cultural and social events in the world. It is not an excuse or reason to engage in piracy but an explanation. When they are socially and culturally excluded from significant events, and legal means are not available Australians will find creative solutions including piracy.   


Yes I am an Australian...

Danielle Spencer from comfortcomes.com (no copyright infringement intended)

Sunday, 30 June 2013

@lyndahere and more piracy revised

@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle Love the beautiful brand new song you debuted last night at @PTBOMusic Fest Yes, you are a sailor. 30 June 2013

As @lyndahere loads up a new Alan Doyle song from Great Big Sea that no one has heard before I am struggling to understand why people pirate music, television series, movies or anything. There is nothing like a continual spoiler on social media. But also @lyndahere has made another decision about how this music should be heard by the world. Because she has the technology to do so doesn’t make it right.

The recent newspaper articles and internet sites around the world reporting the current piracy trends in television shows have interested me. The reports from Torrent Freak and newspapers describe Australians as the biggest pirates of Game of Thrones television series followed by Americans and Canadians. The television show has seen it as a complement rather than as a criticism. Torrent Freak wrote “Interestingly, many of the people connected to the show saw it as a compliment rather than a major threat that needs to be dealt with…The most outspoken position was taken by David Petrarca, the show’s director, who noted that unauthorized downloads actually do more good than harm. According to the director, pirates are partly responsible for the “cultural buzz” the show needs to thrive and survive”.

Others like the American Ambassador to Australia were less complementary. “ After the season got underway some critical notes also appeared. “The Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia recently complained about the “plain theft” being carried out by Australians”. Unless a person is familiar with how television operates in Australia and has operated then it is difficult to understand why Australians are the biggest pirates of the television show Game of Thrones. Television and social media have been intertwined as people jump online to discuss the latest happenings. Australians are no different but as events like series 3 of Game of Thrones appears in the US they are excluded. Social media screened elsewhere throughout the world can destroy story lines if it is not shown simultaneously. And the moment is lost when it finally does appear.

Australians have been left out of participating in significant social and cultural events for years through no fault of their own. In America and Canada it is different. They are able to watch television programs before anyone else. They don’t have far to travel to significant cultural events and if they choose to spend their time doing other things and their money on other things why should they use piracy as way to participate in things for free by people like @lyndahere who have made a career out of piracy. If she is concerned at people missing out then I am kind of interested why she doesn’t respond to many people who contact her one social media.

There are many reasons people illegally download either television or music. They range from getting something for free in the here and now rather than waiting until it is screened on television after the event, constant advertising  and social media. Also I believe there are many television viewers like me totally unaware of the options now available online for watching the latest television programs. Research shows illegal downloading has been over all decreasing and there are a number of reasons why this is happening. And it seems a lot of people are willing to pay for television programs in particular from subscription television and other TV streaming sites. Other issues like ethics, extreme fandom and the thought that piracy may affect the networks to make expensive television series is combating piracy as people choose legal means.  I bought the DVDs.

In the U.S. the situation is not much better, and to a certain degree one could claim that HBO is to blame for Game of Thrones’ BitTorrent record. They want to keep access to the show “exclusive” and even Netflix wasn’t able to buy the rights no matter what they offered. However companies who produce programs like Game of Thrones and Foxtel sign agreements that prevent viewers from buying it legally until they have finished viewing it on their own network in the US. It seems while Australians and others continued to be excluded from simultaneous viewing because of various legalities and philosophies of the companies that produce the programs they will find creative ways both legal and illegal to watch television shows.

At the same time results from the piracy were being published on Torrent Freak.com The Australian the national newspaper in Australia published some interesting results on a survey conducted on piracy. The APRA (the Australasian Performing Right Association) surveyed 1000 people on piracy. What I found interesting about the research was it challenged stereotypes of who committed piracy. “The research confirms the stereotype that illegal downloaders of content are younger, with 44 per cent of the 210 people who admitted to it being aged under 30 (and over 18)” when in fact a large amount of piracy was being committed by people who were older, educated and financially well off.

The Australian writes “However, it also throws up the unedifying prospect that the concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material is not getting through to educated professionals and is perhaps even knowingly being flouted”. While this may be true of some of the Australians surveyed it seems to be that way for people across a range of countries like America and Canada. @lyndahere tells us she is educated yet she has no concept of the illegality of stealing copyrighted material and has clearly flouted the laws. There seems to be a whole range of people who tweet and retweet her bootlegged and music pirated videos that they are promoting illegal material to publicize people. 

The research provided an interesting way to combat the piracy…Two-thirds of respondents agreed in principle to action to discourage people who repeatedly download copyrighted material illegally, although only 37 per cent of those who download illegally agreed. This aligns broadly with research by Sycamore Research in 2011 that showed 72 per cent of respondents would stop accessing illegal content online if their ISP sent them a notice. It would be great if this also applied to people uploading and distributing illegal content.

More thoughts on piracy from a creator continued...

“No one benefits from piracy except the criminals and the portal that opens its doors to them. Stealing content may feel like a win, but supporting piracy will ultimately diminish the quality of the content you’ve come to love and depend on”(Kurt Sutter at slate.com).

Last week Kurt Sutter provided links to this article he wrote on copyright via official social media pages including Twitter and made a video for YouTube on his position on copyright and piracy. Kurt makes some interesting points about copyright and puts forward some solutions to help bring about change. Ultimately it will depend upon the individual user changing their consumer habits. I agree with what he says in particular that piracy devaluates content. Sons of Anarchy is one of my favourite television series.

Not-So-Zen and the Art of Voluntary Agreement

Google’s anti-copyright stance is just a way to devalue content. That’s bad for artists and bad for consumers. By Kurt Sutter 14 March 2014 at slate.com (no copyright infringement intended)

Hollywood and its activists always make for a convenient and easy punching bag. Public opinion gets wildly distorted, so folks perceive us as decadent spendthrifts who drive to work in gold Maybachs, where we dabble in our “art,” while minions massage our feet and feed us the marinated roe of endangered species. Other than Diddy, that’s just not the case. 

And man, this manipulation is getting fucking dangerous.
 
Let’s consider the March 11 anti-copyright rant in Slate by Marvin Ammori, a lawyer working for Google (which somehow he forgot to mention in the article). He compares Hollywood to that insidious “ex who won’t give up” pursuing you and making your life miserable. As a guy with more than a few exes, I have to tell you, Marv, the most insidious ex is the one who hides the truth, steals your money, and lies to all your friends. That’s what Ammori and Google are doing.

Clearly, I’m not a lobbyist. I don’t think you’re allowed to say “fuck” in lobby school. Or at least, I’m sure there’s a fuck cap, which I’ve already exceeded. I’m a writer who makes his living in television and film (The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Outlaw Empires) I create dramatic content. I’m blessed. I get paid a lot of money to do something I love. I wouldn’t trade the 80-hour weeks, the psychiatrist bills, the death threats, the hostile-work-environment claims, or the fact that I have to reintroduce myself to my children every hiatus for anything. But make no mistake: I work hard to create my content. So do the hundreds of people I employ who work with me every day.

So does every other writer, producer, director, actor, musician, tech developer, and artist out there. We all commit and burn to do what we love.

Everyone is aware that Google has done amazing things to revolutionize our Internet experience. And I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Google are very nice people. But the big G doesn’t contribute anything to the work of creatives. Not a minute of effort or a dime of financing. Yet Google wants to take our content, devalue it, and make it available for criminals to pirate for profit. Convicted felons like KimDotcom generate millions of dollars in illegal revenue off our stolen creative work. People access Kim through Google. And then, when Hollywood tries to impede that thievery, it’s presented to the masses as a desperate attempt to hold on to antiquated copyright laws that will kill your digital buzz. It’s so absurd that Google is still presenting itself as the lovable geek who’s the friend of the young everyman. Don’t kid yourself, kids: Google is the establishment. 

It is a multibillion-dollar information portal that makes dough off of every click on its page and every data byte it streams. Do you really think Google gives a shit about free speech or your inalienable right to access unfettered content? Nope. You’re just another revenue resource Google can access to create more traffic and more data streams. Unfortunately, those streams are now pristine, digital ones of our work, which all flow into a huge watershed of semi-dirty cash. If you want to know more about how this works, just Google the word “parasite.” And if you think I’m exaggerating, ask yourself why Google spends tens of millions of dollars each year to hire lawyers and lobbyists (like Marv) whose sole purpose is to erode creative copyright laws.

Do they do this because they hate artists? No. They do it because they love money. 

Every writer, producer, actor, musician, director, tech wizard, and fine artist working today needs to be aware of what this all means for our future—we will lose the ability to protect and profit from our own work. Every kid out there who aspires to be an actor or musician or artist: This is your future that’s at stake. More importantly, everyone who enjoys quality entertainment: This impacts you most of all. Content excellence cannot sustain itself if it loses its capacity to reward the talent that creates it. Consider this clunky analogy: If your local car dealership started selling your favorite luxury car for $1,000, then $100, then started giving it away, what do you think would happen to the quality of that vehicle? Before long, the manufacturer would be forced to let go of the skilled laborer, the artisan, and the craftsman, and eventually cut back on everything in the production process. And before long, that fabulous, high-end car you so enjoyed will be a sheet of warped plywood on top of two rusty cans.

Yep, it’s cheap, and it’s shit. 

Look, whether you think I’m an idiot or a prophet (ironically, that’s the name of my new autobiography: The Idiot Prophet), at the very least, I hope you take away a few things from this, whatever the hell this is.

1. At this point, we are not talking about legislation or throwing handcuffs on any single party. We don’t want blood. Voluntary agreements are simply a place to start. It means sitting down to begin a fair, open dialogue to find a solution that gives consumers the access and tools they need, while still protecting the livelihood and rights of content creators. This means that everyone is welcome to the table—artists, corporations, consumers, Google … hell, bring along Marvin and all his exes!

2. Voluntary agreements can bring strange bedfellows together. The creative industry is now working with ISPs on the Copright Alert System a voluntary, cooperative effort to let subscribers know when their network might be used for illegal downloading. And it was created with input from public interest groups, including Public Knowledge, the Future of Privacy Forum, and others.

3. No one benefits from piracy except the criminals and the portal that opens its doors to them. Stealing content may feel like a win, but supporting piracy will ultimately diminish the quality of the content you’ve come to love and depend on. Google and the other copyright killers will tell you the opposite to assuage your burden of guilt and theirs, but again, it’s in their best interests to do everything and anything that serves their current bottom line.

4. Diddy drives a solid-gold Maybach, never wears the same Rolex twice, and his boxers are made of the fur of baby pumas he kills with his bare hands.*

*This intel may not be accurate; I found it all on Yahoo.

Great Big Sea...and a piracy policy of sorts.

This week Alan Doyle made a statement on Twitter in that he supports the work of @lyndahere, both her bootlegging and photography. I have always had the suspicious inkling he did. He responded to a bootlegged video she illegally recorded at the Company Theatre concert and responded to and retweeted a photograph she took at a sing-a-long at Mallard Cottage on St Patrick’s Day. While Alan has the right to tweet whomever he wants, it is good to finally know where he stands and he clearly supports @lyndahere’s bootlegging and photographs at every event, both personal or professional.

Alan Doyle releases his solo album and book in the Canadian fall and has a few solo performances scheduled. So @lyndahere can’t do much damage except decrease the value of the content already on Youtube by flooding it even more with her bootlegs and other places and impact on his brand through her form of piracy. However, it is not just Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea. She is also doing the same with other Newfoundland musicians and groups she bootlegs and flooding YouTube with it, working to decrease their content value and their reputations through an association with piracy.

This week Alan Doyle acknowledged and responded to a photograph @lyndahere took at the St Patrick’s Day celebrations at Mallard Cottage in St John’s. Neither, Alan Doyle or @lyndahere informed people there was an informal sing-a-long with him and their friends at Mallard Cottage if they wanted to come along. They were there for nine hours. I may be wrong (and other fans will feel differently) but I feel it is a little patronising tweeting people these photographs and acknowledging them after the event. Neither of them bothered to inform people the event was on, for whatever reason.

This seems to be a common occurrence. There are these little get togethers or concerts with Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle and their friends, that somehow @lyndahere gets to go to but no one else. She doesn’t inform people either until after the event. If they do it is entirely by chance. There has always been a bit of this with @lyndahere. I feel like I’m in Beverly Hills 90120 and missed the popular kid’s party. Here is someone showing off because she was smart enough or brazen enough to find out and this time with Alan Doyle’s approval. We will of course read all about it in the post at Between The Rock accompanied with the photographs and videos.

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. Well in this case there is. I don’t like the invasion of privacy of the performers or the community. I hate the attitude of people being included when it suits them. I don’t like being told that I am not good enough to be told and invited and then patronised with photographs and videos after the event. If they can’t be bothered to tell people then don’t bother telling me about it after the event. If the aim of this type of publicity is to keep fans interested then it is having the opposite effect. I don’t like it and neither do a bunch of other fans who have already left the fandom because of @lyndahere’s behaviour at concerts and online. There are fans who obviously like it and is clearly the case in the amount of retweets and tweets of the photographs.

I will be taking a holiday from the world of Great Big Sea for a while to pursue other interests in the world of fandom. If @lyndahere’s aim is to come between Alan Doyle and everyone he loves or who loves him to increase the interaction between her and him then she is clearly achieving her goal. 

Great Big Sea...it's time for a piracy policy...

“Hoping the Sweet Man, the one I believe in & think the world of, gets his equal time w. the others. That’s not too much to hope for, is it?” @lyndahere 16 March 2014…

If only it were as simple as @lyndahere wanting others to share time with the man and whose music she loves. A couple of days ago a Newfoundland music group Shanneyganock released a wonderful video called Home Boys Home about the fight of Newfoundlanders to preserve their independent and unique culture from the encroaching Canadian mainland. The video showed the glorious Newfoundland physical environment and her people in a very moving account and calling all it’s people to the struggle. The video by Shanneyganock has had over 20 000 hits in just over a week. Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett from Great Big Sea also appeared on the video. At the same time @lyndahere provided links to a video she had bootlegged four years ago of the same song performed live in a  pub by former Great Big Sea member Darrell Power. @lyndahere’s video has reached only approximately 800 hits in the four years since it was loaded up onto YouTube. There is nothing to indicate people watching YouTube prefer bootlegged videos of live performances to professionally made videos or of live performances.

Unfortunately for @lyndahere fans like me don’t have short memories. This is not the first time @lyndahere has released her bootlegged videos in competition with other professionally made videos and not without controversy. For example @lyndahere has also bootlegged Alan Doyle’s Live At Revival music special, the Great Big Sea CBC music special for Great Big Sea XX, the making of It’s Friday with Great Big Sea and Dean Brody and the Blue Rodeo CBC music special with Blue Rodeo and Great Big Sea. In fact any public performance of Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea filmed with a live audience including those of the indoor garden parties.

So yes we do get to spend time no matter where we are in the world with Great Big Sea and their friends with professionally made videos and it isn't just @lyndahere wanting people to spend time with the musicians and the music she loves. @lyndahere’s bootlegs are biased and exclusive of others in her presentation of what is happening on stage. She bootlegs and uploads without much thought about the content, the quality of the sound, the morals and ethics of bootlegging a live performance or the consequences for the musicians on the sales of CD’s and tickets to concerts. 

It is really unfortunate over the past couple of years Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea and their friends including Russell Crowe and Scott Grimes have not had a bootlegging policy. Piracy and bootlegging have been used to promote their work however, there is research that states piracy erodes content value and damages brand reputations. I have always believed this. A little bootlegging as a concert experience is alright and a good promotion but the endless bootlegging by the same person without any thought to the content already available and from the same position in a concert venue is uncreative, undermining and detrimental to the music.

A piracy and bootlegging policy would have made it clear where the musicians and artists stood and where the fans stood who chose to bootleg and watch bootlegged live performances. The humming and haring over bootlegging and piracy by Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea, Russell Crowe and their friends has made it difficult for fans who have a moral and ethical conscience and want to do the right thing. There are always fans like @lyndahere who bootleg live performances, who can’t distinguish when it is appropriate and when it is not and what and how much to bootleg and load up on to YouTube and other sources. It has created discussion and dissention among the fandoms.

Just over a year ago I wrote the following post about the thoughts of bootlegging and piracy by some musicians and artists. The Great Big Sea official site with links to concert tickets advertised the fact there was no photographing and bootlegging at most venues. However @lyndahere chose to ignore it. At the time there was no indication that Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea supported music piracy or the activities of @lyndahere other than her continued presence in their top tweets with bootlegged videos and pictures. Things have changed with the departure of Sean McCann.

A model for a bootlegging policy is available at the Dave Matthew’s Band official webpage. Other musicians and artists who support bootlegging also have them. Whether the fans respect them is another issue but they are there.    

@lyndahere and musicians and artists opinions of bootlegging published on 13 January 2013

It’s a new year and @lyndahere is off stalking and bootlegging Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea on some of his solo gigs in America and Canada in New Hampshire, LA, New York and Vancouver and British Columbia Canada. She did quite well in bootlegging the Russell Crowe New York Indoor Garden Party concerts at Joe’s Pub on 8 December 2012 on all accounts after receiving approximately 200000 hits for all the live recorded videos put up Youtube. Approximately $1000 tax free if she is collecting revenue from Youtube. Not bad for four hours work when the average American wage per hour is low.

On her Twitter page @lyndahere wrote these tweets along with all the rest

@lyndahere @alanthomasdoyle Yes, you were awesome, that is. As always. Tonight White River Jct. will be Awesome Trifecta 12 January 2013

@lyndahere I love it when people get excited about your solo music. That’s almost as sweet as is gets. NYC show will be awesome, Alan @alanthomasdoyle 11 January 2013

@lyndahere 5.30 am airport shuttle = time to get a bit of sleep tonight. Great night tonight with the Alan Doyle Band. More shows alandoyle.ca/tour 11 January 2013

@lyndahere A gorgeous Dream of Home Alan Doyle Tupelo Music Hall, Londonderry NH on Youtube @alanthomasdoyle 11 January 2013

@lyndahere Gotta love a man who knows right where he belongs: Alan Doyle, Tupelo Music Hall, Londonderry on Youtube @alanthomasdoyle 11 January 2013

@lyndahere I love St. John’s but from what I am hearing and reading about current weather conditions, I don’t think I mind not loving her until Tuesday 11 January 2013

So what do some musicians and artists think about the bootlegging of their live shows? After a brief search of the Internet the opinions of musicians and artists recording their concerts are pretty diverse. Some don’t like it and make their opinions very clear. Others issue statements and develop policies. Others approve for a variety of reasons with some conditions on recording like for personal use only and no trading. Some bootleg their own concerts and release them to fans. But regardless of what the musicians or artists want most people like @lyndahere who buy tickets to concerts will always do exactly what they want with little respect for what the musicians and groups want and still call themselves fans.

In 2000, over 70 musicians and artists formed a coalition in the fight against all kinds of piracy. They included Canadians Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies and Alanis Morissette and Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks and Metallica. “AAP’s goal is to create public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the value of music and to advocate artists’ choice in determining how their music is presented, distributed and marketed online”. The initiative was also supported by various companies. The fight continues in 2012 as British musicians and artists lead by Sir Elton John, Pete Townshend and Robert Plant wrote a letter to the British Prime Minister David Cameron to influence the government to implement the antipiracy focused Digital Economy Act 2010 that will assist in the fight against music piracy.

Action seems to be taken at venues as well as by artists and musicians at various concerts. They are described in a bootlegger’s blog called “Starknakedtruth: Confessions of a Rock Concert Bootlegger”. Most alleged self-confessed bootleggers start out with good intentions and to trade only but then get into selling attracted to the huge amounts of money involved. This bootlegger writes about the conflicts between his real job and his bootlegging business, developing tricks of the trade, running a website and dealing with customers, numerous conflicts with security and police, fights with other fans who reported him to the RIAA and band’s management, and problems of distribution through sites like EBay blocking the sale of some bootlegs. He talks about fans willing to take action or perhaps other bootleggers ratting out the opposition. “Janis’s lawyers sent me a letter to ‘cease and desist’ in any distributions of copies of this show, after a fan on her message board rats me out to her lawyers. I would receive about half dozen of such legal letters to comply to from various bands like Cheap Trick, Journey ect in their future”. Despite all the objections from the musicians and artists themselves, their security, fans and actions by EBay this person continued to bootleg and sell them.

In 2004 a Finnish man was prosecuted for spreading unauthorised recordings of Alanis Morissette concerts on the Internet. The man was found to have swapped over 1900 copies of auauthorised concerts recordings between 1999 and 2003 with other bootleggers through his website. He had not made illegal recordings himself. He was ordered to pay $21 756 in compensation to Morissette and others for copyright infringement. Alanis Morissette was of course at the for front of the Artists Against Piracy campaign established in 2000 as were many of the musicians and artists bootlegged by the author of Starknaked Truth blog.

The Dave Matthews Band is one band whose views on tapping live shows is well documented and is on their official site as they allow it at almost all of their performances. Their taping policy on their official webpage states “ We feel that each show is unique and want to offer our fans the opportunity to recreate the live experienced through the audio reproduction of our shows. At all authorised performances tapers can tape from any ticketed seating located in the venue. Also for many of these performances tapers are to purchase seats in the specially designated taper section, normally located immediately behind the soundboard…Taping is limited to audio-only, using microphones…We sincerely appreciate all of our fans so we ask you that you please be considerate of those around you by not obstructing anyone else’s view of the performances…All recordings must be used for personal used or trading only…”.

The Dave Matthews Band unlike others recognises bootlegging is a major problem in the music industry. They recognised the contribution fans can make in the fight against bootlegged material “Those of you who have passed along information about commercialised recordings have been very instrumental in our fight against bootleggers. An equally important violation of the integrity of the music is the unauthorised commercial exploitation of the band now occurring on television and radio…And don’t forget the battle of the bootleggers is an ongoing one”. But despite their best intention, generosity and attempts to cooperate with their fans by allowing taping and trading there will always be those out to exploit. A search of the Dave Matthews Band on Youtube shows this in the number of hits of illegally copied pirated videos and bootlegged material. Despite the policy being displayed on their home webpage some fans remain ignorant and choose to ignore it. In one illegal video I watched the sound recording and the visual were from two different concerts.

To me the taping policy of Great Big Sea has been made perfectly clear via Twitter. That is they don’t mind people taping their shows for personal use but they don’t like their entire concerts being taped and posted on Youtube. This is evident in the fact the three primary members of Great Big Sea (Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann) have never officially acknowledged or retweeted any of @lyndahere’s hundreds of videos she has sent them via Twitter in the last year or so. Alan Doyle has on occasions tweeted @lyndahere welcoming her presence at concerts but never acknowledged any of her videos. Links and retweets of her videos have on a very few rare occasions been provided by Russell Crowe, Scott Grimes and other friends of Alan Doyle such as Great Big Sea member Murray Foster and Alan Doyle Band member Kendel Carson. Nearly all Great Big Sea fans respect their unspoken taping policy and are more interested in creating memories for the moment listening and enjoying the music than creating memories for someone else to visit sometime in the future. But I could be wrong.

Bootleggers and those that view and make live recordings at concerts continually justify their activities with a range of arguments. Bootlegging is a hobby of music enthusiasts and they should be allowed to do free from legal threat. There is a thought that a fan base will increase if they are allowed to video and trade in bootlegged material following certain guidelines or rules and create a community of fans. However, it is clear in the case of Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle that the primary bootlegger @lyndahere is not interested in following other guidelines laid down for taping by the venues or ticket holders or those of the musicians.

Bootleggers seemed more concerned about the fans their bootlegged videos on Youtube may attract than the people who have already purchased tickets and are there at the concert. In one of the official and bootlegged videos of Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party in New York bootleggers have their cameras on in the front row and in others by the audience they are raising their cameras above the crowd obstructing someone’s views and shining a light in their face. There is clear evidence they piss off some performers such as Neil Young. “With the Internet there is no more privacy and not even the chance to express yourself in front of your audience in the intimacy of a concert that lets songs evolve. You cann’t do this because they immediately get it circulated”.

Bootlegged recordings made by relatively unknown bands can be used as a cheap form of publicity without paying for the large overheads like labour to produce it, the license to record or the distribution. Bootleggers like @lyndahere believe live recordings help bring in new fans who will in turn go to concerts and buy CDs. Illegal live recordings are used as modes of word-of-mouth advertising to increase enthusiasm amongst fans and create a community. Bootlegged recordings are often the first material many fans see and as a consequence may be turned off because of the poor quality and discourage fans from attending concerts. Bootlegging can also work in reverse and piss people off who don’t agree with piracy, and who support the coalition of musicians and artists who don’t support piracy. In a country like America on the brink of an economic crisis, money for entertainment of any kind is limited. If a concert is bootlegged in the way @lyndahere bootlegs more and more people are going to watch it on Youtube. Rather than spend $30 on a ticket to a show they can pay for Internet usage for a whole month. They are very unlikely to buy a CD if they can access it for free.

Canadian Neil Young writes in his biography Waging Heavy Peace about being on the road, performing to today’s audience and the presence of technology at concerts “If you forget what you’re doing, it shows up on YouTube. If you do something new that isn’t ready, or something old that you screw up, it is on YouTube. If snot comes off your nose while you are playing the harmonica and slithers down the harmonica rack onto your T-shirt, it is on YouTube. If you say something stupid…”

References

“Artists speak out against piracy” at www.musicunited.org viewed 10 January 201\3

“Artists Against Piracy Launches Nation Media Campaign” at www.interentnews.com/ec-news/articles viewed on 10 January 2013

“Finn ordered to pay Alanis Morissette for Internet bootleg spreading” www.murmurs.com viewed 10 January 2013

Rolling Stone, “Elton John, Pete Townshend and Robert Plant Sign Anti-Piracy Letter to British Prime Minister”, 25 July 2012 www.rollingstone.com/music/news viewed 10 January 2013.

“Starknakedtruth; Confessions of A Rock Concert Bootlegger 9 October 2012” www.startnakedtruth.blogspot.com viewed 10 January 2013

Young, N. 2012. Waging Heavy Peace. Penguin Group: London.