Bootleg alert

As we find bootlegs added to the database on a regular basis, I thought it would be good to have one dedicated thread to report them. Here's some Zeppelin bootlegs for starters:


http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=20108

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=24824

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=31071

Indeed, if we start adding Led Zep bootlegs, we'll need a bigger web site.

There are plenty of similar items on PA. Some of them are offered in respected music stores, it's not easy to prove that CD X and DVD Y are bootlegs.

A few suspicious Yes releases too, this one being the most obvious.

Yes, sublicensing is different than bootleging. Quite a complicated issue indeed. [Long story told short, sublicensing releases are legal, but I don't think we should add them unless they contribute with new material - which is highly unlikely.]

As for the three entries that I reported, that of Snobb also appears on Discogs as an unofficial release and on RYM as a bootleg, so I guess this can be considered settled.
Regarding Scott's entry I think it's impossible for this to be a sub-licensing because the Australian tour wasn't previously released and you as far as I know you can't "sub-license" previously unreleased material. This "label" that released this DVD sells through Amazon Marketplace and seems to have many other releases for sale too. So I can't say I'm 100% sure, but they don't show up on any other database either (like Discogs or RYM).
Which means Mandy's entry is the one with the highest chances of being a genuine sublicensed edition, actually.  Which I don't think we should keep, either; even if it's genuine, it breaches PA policy as it only duplicates previously added material. 

Edited by harmonium.ro - May 04 2011 at 10:11

Vompatti wrote: A few suspicious Yes releases too, this one being the most obvious.

I do have that Yes Extended Versions CD.  There are a number of bands that are included in the series.  There is a Kansas Extended Versions which is basically the same as their King Biscuit Flower Hour performance.

NotAProghead wrote: I think we are not a bunch of lawyers here and it's not our task to do detectives' job.

No one asks the E&O team to do a detective job, I think that judging upon presented evidence is reasonable enough.

NotAProghead wrote: If albums are distributed by respected stores and services I see no reason to delete or not include them on PA.

Respected stores sell mostly anything though. Remember when a few weeks back a guy asked us here to add a Genesis bootleg he had bought at Wallmart? Right now I'm looking at the page of the Zeppelin DVD Scott added, and the EBay field in the page is offering to sell me " Led Zeppelin - Collectors Box Unauthorized 2DVDs $17.95" or "Led Zeppelin - Closer to Heaven (DVD, 2007)". And  Idon't know what are Amazon's standards, but Amazon Marketplace (the only place where that DVD can be bought) isn't Amazon, it's a place where anyone can sell (a sort of EBay held by Amazon).

NotAProghead wrote: Personally if I have doubts about some album's legitimacy I don't add it to PA. But we can't say, once and forever, to all PA members what they should not add to the database.

"No bootlegs or unauthorized releases" is already asked on the album addition page, so if anyone would have your attitude this wouldn't be a problem, but obviously it isn't the case.


RE Yes, they have already plagued their own discography with cheap compilations and editions, they look dubious indeed but they are OK.

Edited by NotAProghead - May 04 2011 at 14:29

I'm happy to go with the consensus here of course, if the general view is they should go, I'll do the deeds.