Sinister: Thoughts on Tigermilk and copies of such

[Matthew Neimark]

>continuing flak that we are taking regarding defending the bands rights
>re: Tigermilk Bootlegs we will be unsubscribing from the sinister list.

David,

>From the fans perspective (and I say fans perspective because I believe 
the statistically significant majority of fans feel this way), it does 
not sound like you, Katrina, or Jeepster are attempting to secure band 
rights in any way.

It appears more like your camp is following a political agenda by 
claiming the bands legal rights.  

That is my impression.  If I am wrong, I sincerely apologize, but I'm 
sure many of my fellow fans (especially those who do not own Tigermilk) 
feel the same way.  

Many analogies can be made to a class struggle.  There were very few 
Tigermilks made and only the most priveleged own them (some more than 
one).  People are allowed to own arguably inferior cassette copies of 
the recording, but the original becomes nothing more than an 
un-obtainable dream.

Some people challenge the idea that they can own only a cassette copy 
and pursue a better facsimile (that technology now allows).  Jeepster 
puts them in their lower-class places by claiming legal authority over 
the matter.  

I don't think the band cares that random people on the list would make 
CD-R copies of their first recording.  If it was that important to them 
that people buy the original, they would re-release it.  (I distinctly 
remember one of the band members during the chat claiming that it 
wouldn't bother him even if a larger scale bootlegging operation were to 
occur.)

I also don't think Jeepster has a legal authority over Tigermilk.  
Either Electric Honey or the band do.  Of course either could allow 
Jeepster's pursuit of legal action on behalf of themselves, but I don't 
think they would particularly care if one fan were to make a copy.

Third, if it were to come to legal action (at least in the United 
States), one could claim "Fair Use".  That is, since Tigermilk is out of 
print (unobtainable) and one is using the recording for a literary, 
scientific, cultural, or artistic use, copywrite laws allow a personal 
copies by individuals who aren't attempting sale or profit.  Since most 
of our laws come from England, I'm sure the same holds in the UK.

Also, Jeepster attempting legal action sounds to me a lot like "bark 
bigger than bite" syndrome.  Even if Jeepster hand such funds to take on 
such court battles, the idea of a fan making a personal copy (i.e. not a 
grand bootlegging operation) would be laughed out of court in the US.  
And it is VERY easy to sue someone in the US.

Matt



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