LyndaHere, Bootlegging, Piracy, Twitter And Me….The fan debate on piracy continues.

“Amusing = Someone who’s harassed you for YEARS over “pirated” concert videos re-posts vids from a person who always films the entire show.” 24 October, 2016… LyndaHere on Twitter.

As fans who follow Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies know they played a concert in Ithaca, New York after spending several hours trying to get through US Customs. With great determination Alan Doyle, Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson made the show with borrowed gear and by all accounts did not disappoint their fans. The rest of the members of the band and their gear didn’t make it and will arrive later on for the rest of the concerts.

How do I know this as I was not there? A well-known concert goer and bootlegger had caught the entire concert and put it up on YouTube within a couple of hours and shared it via the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page. The bootlegger (a male) was not intimated by LyndaHere’s position on this fan page as the main creator and distributor of fan content including photographs, bootlegs and pirated content. That in itself has got to be admired in any music fan regardless of their bootlegging history.

So I was curious (yet torn) and I watched a couple of these bootlegs. I admitted in my Twitter feed about being torn to watch them as I have resisted in the past, especially any new material. But after viewing these and if I were to be honest I thought they were well totally awesome, so I shared these on my Twitter feed. What I was really impressed with was the love and humour in which Alan Doyle, Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson shared their unique brand of music and entertainment with the audience and I was a wee bit jealous I was not there in person.

LyndaHere must had read the Twitter posts in Alan Doyle’s Twitter feed (or my Twitter feed) and made the comment on her Twitter feed (with no names of course and not to my face) that she found it amusing she had been harassed about her “pirating” by this person who was now sharing bootlegs of entire concerts. I am assuming (but could be wrong) she was tweeting about me.

It is kind of a shame she missed the point of my tweets and sharing these bootlegs and that was the Alan Doyle trio and their determination to bring music to the people who paid was awesome and to be admired and their performance not the bootlegs and the method they were collected.

I have admitted in my blog I watch fan created bootlegs just to see what they are creating and after much research and thought I do recognise them as part of the genuine concert experience and have shared many. I had written a review of this bootlegger’s work before in a post titled ‘Concert Bootlegging Visited…the good, the bad and down right dreadful’ published on 6 October, 2015 about concert bootlegging in our fandom. I reviewed some of LyndaHere’s bootlegs also in this post.

I did raised the issue I did not like concert lovers who bootlegged whole concerts and what I considered to be good bootlegging as part of the concert experience. Although I still don’t like whole concerts being bootlegged it was great to see how much the concert lover had improved. The bootlegs were of something unique, so I shared them on Twitter and on my Google + page. I feel sorry for LyndaHere being stuck in place where she and others can’t seem to change their minds about anything. And there lies her problem. Her unwillingness to change her ideas on the business of creating and distributing fan material.

From reading the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook Page I know that this bootlegger had run into copyright issues with YouTube and one of his sites had been brought down for bootlegging. As I remember from the posts LyndaHere entered into a conversation with the bootlegger about this but did not raise the issue of him bootlegging whole concerts to his face.

LyndaHere’s YouTube sites Between The Rock and A Passionate Kisses are full of bootlegged and pirated content from Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle including full concerts. LyndaHere has bootlegged entire concerts multiple times. The Indoor Garden Parties and a list of concert specials come to mind. LyndaHere was also a champion of a recorded concert in Denver last year that was distributed via the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page. These bootlegs were eventually brought down.

“Harass” is kind of a strong word to use for my treatment of calling her out on her bootlegging and pirating career. I call it standing up for someone I care about and the work they do and that is Alan Doyle.

For LyndaHere and others these are a list of reasons why I don’t like her bootlegging at concerts and pirating…

· LyndaHere makes decisions about the distribution of copyrighted content and records and distributes pirate content regardless of the wishes of the creators on her YouTube sites. This usually isn’t done by her her housemate in St. John’s Newfoundland.

· LyndaHere has put up bootlegs in direct competition to professionally made material before it has been aired on television undermining it’s original value through advertising content and interest.

· LyndaHere has bootlegged and pirated without any consideration to what material exists already in it’s various forms on her sites. Some songs have been recorded as many as 20 to 30 times and they offer nothing new. As a consequence some material may get devalued and is left out of professionally made specials.

· LyndaHere has a history of making and distributing poor quality bootlegs, especially the sound and many of her bootlegs are overexposed. They are taken from the same position at every concert and are often exclusive of the entire cast of the concert. After 10-15 years of sitting in the front row of concerts you think she would have got the technical issues in her equipment worked out.

· LyndaHere has bootlegged and distributed new songs and entire albums and released them before their official release. She also bootlegged (and pirated) Alan Doyle’s Live At Revival special and planned to shared it on social media before the Boy on Bridge album was released and the special was aired on television. This was later taken down due to fan pressure. There is also a pirated copy on her site.

· LyndaHere bootlegged the So Let’s Go album immediately after it was released. I have grave concerns for Cory Tetford’s new album as there is a show on the day of the release in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She bootlegs any new music without regard for the wishes on the musicians or artists.

· LyndaHere also bootlegged multiple copies on entire concerts for example, the Indoor Garden Parties and she is probably solely responsible for there not being a professionally made DVD.

· LyndaHere has a total disregard for the wishes of the musicians, artists or venues she goes concerning bootlegging. For example, at one of the Indoor Garden Parties in New York there were no cameras allowed and patrons were bagged searched. She snuck her camera into the concert, bootlegged and was rewarded with social media shares by those involved sending mixed message to fans.

· LyndaHere has bootlegged at events without sharing her knowledge of events to fans so they could go so she had exclusive bootlegging rights. These have included events at Mallard Cottage in St. John’s, Newfoundland, unannounced pub gigs and public appearances and a post funeral event for a much loved Newfoundland musician.

· LyndaHere has bootlegged entire concerts and put up videos that were for a charity event and album to help a struggling Newfoundland musician. She has sat in the front of a funeral and bootlegged in competition to a professional organisation already filming the event.

· LyndaHere’s constant need to be first to record anything and bootlegging and social media usage spoils any surprises for concert goers concerning new material who participate on fan sites.

· LyndaHere very rarely shares any other fan created material on her social media sites. She doesn’t share any posts in their own right without her own photograph or comment on it from fans and celebrities.

The list is a lot longer but I really don’t have the time or willingness to go on. Rather than being glad fans were getting to see the brilliance of Alan Doyle, Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson despite their trying day through these bootlegs she found fault with fans.

LyndaHere has a reputation for being mean and nasty when things don’t go 100% her way at the big events and concerts. Today she was pipped at the post by someone who was faster than her at putting up material. LyndaHere usually has the power to decide what fans see at concerts but this bootlegger decided to let fans decide for themselves.

I was glad to see the bootlegger who I reviewed in a post was interested in improving his craft even though it was a full concert and against copyright law. There is also the possibility those finding offence at their material being copyrighted may go there again.

I don’t believe in getting material for free without there being something in it for the musicians and artists. So for Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies I am happy to buy another copy of an album even though I have one hard copy and one digital of both his for watching these bootlegs.