Interesting article on counterfeit vinyl in the Grauniad

[aybracers]

It makes those 70's bootlegs with the hand drawn artwork covers seem like classy products now.

 

[kensalriser]

For a long while EU law only covered music copyright for 50 years, though bizarrely images held copyright longer. This is why there was a massive fly-tipping of really dodgy jazz pressings with the wrong covers etc; DOL, Waxtime and other fake labels producing shit “mastered” from cassette, CD or in some cases even YouTube videos. Things claiming to be Kind Of Blue, Blue Train etc, which obviously weren’t. Really obscure prog acts suffered similarly.

It is since been extended as rich living white people started to notice; Cliff Richard, Beatles etc were all hitting the point their music would be ripe for “legal” piracy. As such the copyright was extended, I think to 75 years, though it has done little to stem the influx of jazz piracy. That is still all over the place and can be found in major high st chains, Amazon, HMV etc. I’m not a lawyer so I’ve no idea why the legitimate rights holders (mainly Universal, Sony etc) don’t sue.

As stated earlier I refuse to stock them as I know they are crap. Sadly I’m one of very few dealers with that view. I just give them back when they come in or chuck them. Just junk as far as I’m concerned. They give a really bad impression of what vinyl is to new buyers so are destructive for us all.

Thanks, never heard that referred to as a copyright loophole. This became a problem with digital service providers too, as they got swamped by multiple iterations of public domain content. Eventually the major platforms stopped accepting new deliveries of repertoire they already had.

 

[foxwelljsly]

Worth a look for the witty illustrations. No mention of the copyright loophole releases that flood even legit retailers though.

Vinyl came back from the dead – and so did the bootleggers: inside the booming business of knock-off records

As LP sales boom in the UK, so has the illegal trade in poor-quality fakes. But the record detectives are fighting back

www.theguardian.com

Sister Ray was stuffed with these back in the noughties. I have a bundle of them, not to mention a copy of Manfred Mann's Chapter 3 bought in Belgium a while back.

One of the reasons I now avoid new reissues in favour of carefully selected secondhand vinyl and new releases.

 

[hockman]

Unfortunately many newbies (& old timers too) buy these 'out-of-copyright' records, not knowing better and because they are 'cheap'. They think they sound fine even though they are probably dubbed on to vinyl from the CD. As records have become so trendy, buying has become a minefield and prone to to extremely costly mistakes.

 

[Tony L]

Unfortunately many newbies (& old timers too) buy these 'out-of-copyright' records, not knowing better and because they are 'cheap'. They think they sound fine even though they are probably dubbed on to vinyl from the CD. As records have become so trendy, buying has become a minefield and prone to to extremely costly mistakes.

As a music fan, record collector and dealer it annoys me so much. Those who sell them should be ashamed IMHO. They damage us all. I’d far prefer to see new buyers guided fairly into buying genuinely good legitimate stuff that will hold value and provide lasting enjoyment rather than a scam that could put them off buying vinyl for life.

 

[russel]

…. I’ve moved over to Panasonic Eneloop rechargeables and I think they are more likely to be legitimate.l…….

Mil spec components have been found to be fake, if there is money to be made through price gouging and lack of regulation then organised crime will be queuing up to fill the gap.