Re: artist rights vs. fans

This discussion is a regular Pandora's Box if there ever was one.  I own a
lot of Who bootlegs - as do many of you I'm sure.  I'm glad that I have them
in my collection for all sorts of reasons.  However, the plain and simple
fact is, that by buying them I have taken money out of the pockets of those
that created that music.  The only people that made money from my purchase of
these items is the CD or record manufacturer - not the band themselves. 

For the sake of this discussion - for which I am happy to be the Devil's
advocate - I helped rip off the band as did the manufacturer.  The music
belongs to the band and their contracted record company - not the fans,
unless the band and/or record company desire that music to be issued to those
fans.  We do not have some devine right to that music - we did not write it,
record it, perform it or copyright it in any way, shape or form.  Therefore,
why do some people think they do have some devine right to that music?  They
don't, in any rational sense at all.  If you built a house in your
neighborhood, does some one else in your neighborhood have a devine right to
your labors?  Of course not - same goes for the music business.

The United States has some of the most stringent copyright laws in the world.
 They are designed to protect artists from having their creations stolen or
appropriated by others for financial gain.  That's very fair - would you want
your efforts used by someone else for financial gain where you don't see a
dime?  I doubt it.  That's the way things work - and it was created that way
because many artists DID lose fortunes due to record company ripoffs,
publishing company ripoffs, managerial ripoffs and many more.  Some of these
artists, particularly blues artists, died completely broke!  I don't think
that is fair - and I'm sure you don't either.  That's why these laws exist.

That being said - the collector side of me wants more music than is released
by the band or record label because we love The Who.  We have a big dichotomy
here indeed. So, how does this situation get resolved?  I would lke to hear
some solid responses to this.

In closing, please be aware that the sale of bootlegs was upped to a Federal
felony last July 1st, 1995, when the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff
(GATT) added bootlegs and other counterfeit items (film, computer software,
records/CD's/tapes, jewelry, clothing and other articles) to that
international trade agreement.  Since this time, a large number of busts have
happened in ths country and others, as well as CD's being confiscated by US
Customs.  To be informed is to be forearmed.

Greg Biggs