In 2004 U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled that the statute banning boot-legging was unconstitutional because it says that copyrights on live performances are protected forever. This conflicted with the "limited time" requirements of copyright law, the judge ruled at the time.But on Wednesday, the court of appeals sided with the government, which appealed and argued that Congress did have the power to outlaw boot-legs under the Commerce Clause.
I thought bootlegs had always been illegal?
I recall as a teenager in the 1980s going to a seedy, corner record store and quietly whispering to the old hippie lady who worked there, "Hey, ya' got any Zeppelin?" She'd look around and retrieve a her latest batch of Led Zeppelin live bootleg LPs from under the counter. I felt like I was buying drugs!
It was a little like buying drugs! Those LPs were expensive and sometimes they were really bad. Other times, they were very, very good!
Good find and good post. This is why I am 100% pro-taping and 100% anti-selling of bootlegs. I routinely report bootleggers on E-Bay but also receive about 1-3 new trades every week. I have hundreds of bootleg recordings but I haven’t paid for nor have I sold a single one. Most bands are taper friendly because they know we see their shows regularly and buy their dry goods directly from the source. It’s a community of people trading on the honor system and kicking ass on anyone that sells shows.