The Long Arm Of The Law
If you make something that wouldn't otherwise exist, and get money for it from people who are happy to buy it, aren't you an entrepreneur? Not in the UK, you're a criminal.
This guy certainly put out some Elvis bootlegs, which is why I'm posting it here. God knows his 'Wanted Man' label put out tons of excellent Dylan material through the years. The BBC article includes this priceless quote:
"For at least 11 years he used illicit recordings made by sound engineers and concertgoers to create counterfeit CDs."
What makes these CDs 'counterfiet'? Weren't they CDs? (yes) Did they not include the concerts and artists they claimed? (yes) Did they pretend to be from any label or company other than the one that was putting them out? (no) Was this same material sold by the artists or their record labels in any other form? (no) So why in the world does anyone care?
Concerts are public events. People pay to go and listen. There is ZERO evidence that their availability on CD reduces the number of people who attend live events (witness the ticket-sales history of Dylan, Springsteen, Stones, Prince, and many other heavily bootlegged artists). So what's the problem? When Dylan finally put out officially several heavily bootlegged shows, they sold well - so the practice doesn't even limit the future revenue potential of anyone. When told of the initial success of 'The Basement Tapes' when issued by Columbia, Dylan was surprised and famously remarked "I thought everybody already had them" referring to the fact that copies had widely circulated for years.
More recently, Pearl Jam, The Who, Rickie Lee Jones, and others have started issuing their own 'instant bootlegs' and have done well with it. Other artists should either start doing this, or just let the free market take over. This guy deserves all the money he's made, and should be encouraged to grow his business - not to go sit in jail.