Thou Shalt Not Bootleg

As I've indicated in previous posts I am an enthusiastic lover of music. I especially love live performances, if a group or artist can't give a good performance live then they should find a new career. As such, I attend lots of concerts. Something I enjoy doing is taping the Concerts for my own personal listening for many years to come.

Let's be clear, I have never sold a CD or Tape in my life. I believe music should be shared freely. At no time would I ever tape a show for my own personal financial gain, and would never endorse such a practice. I also avoid copying or downloading music that is copyrighted.

Another thing I want to stress is that this practice, contrary to what some people would have you believe, is not illegal. TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 113 > § 2319A of the US code states, "Whoever, without the consent of the performer or performers involved, knowingly and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord..." Therefore, unless you intend to record a show for personal gain, you've got no problem. Unfortunately, each concert venue has their own rules regarding recording shows, as I found out Saturday night.

In 5 years and about 40 concerts worth of recording I have never before been caught. Saturday night, I attended a Journey concert in Houston, and had a couple of disadvantages in trying to conceal my recording devices. One, I was wearing a white shirt, it had been hot earlier in Dallas and I know Houston is usually even hotter, so I chose to wear a short sleeved white shirt. Two, I hung the microphone from a cord around my neck and left it on the outside of my shirt in plain view. I worry that placing the microphone under the shirt might muffle the sound. Third, the seat my ticket put me in was on an aisle, a very busy aisle where lots of ushers and security people passed me all night. So, during the final song of the concert I was approached by a security grunt and asked to come with him.

He took me out of the main seating area to an open vendor area near the exits. At that point I was surrounded by about 5 of these Security people. I then started telling blatant lies that I had forgot to bring a disc for my minidisc recorder, that I hadn't actually recorded anything, that the mike was hanging around my neck because I had forgotten that it was there. When one of these low wage security punks asked me if I thought they were stupid, I had to fight hard the urge to tell him just how stupid I thought they were. These guys were just absolutely jumping up and down, you'd think they'd caught Osama Bin Laden or something. Now at this point, I realised that the only way I was going to leave without further trouble was to give up the disc I had ejected from my recorder in secret and hidden in my belt.

There is a reason I use a minidisc recorder rather than some kind of digital recorder. With a minidisc recorder you can eject the disc. This comes in handy when you are caught; if you bring an extra disc, you can give the security guys the extra blank disc, and keep the one with the actual show recorded on it. Well after 40 shows and never being caught I had grown complacent and had failed to bring an extra disc. So to get out of there without any more hassle I gave up the disc, even though I was completely within my rights to refuse to give them anything.

Now I confess all this for a reason. I think my days of recording shows like this may be over. Even though this is not a crime, it is certainly against the rules of the venues where these concerts are held, and I'm sure the band and their management would not want this happening either. So, after some weekend soul searching I felt that this form of dishonesty, although a victimless crime in my opinion, isn't in keeping with the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I ask the forgiveness of everyone who feel my actions and dishonest practices have harmed them in any way.