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115-472: Läther integrates many aspects of Zappa's musical oeuvre — heavy rock, orchestral works, and complex jazz flavored instrumentals, along with Zappa's distinctive electric guitar solos and satirical lyrics, all edited together in a seemingly random way. The Läther album was intended for release in 1977 as a four-LP box set, but it never appeared officially in this format. A variety of bootleg recordings of this material were widely distributed. One of these

230-550: A USB stick at concerts, which could be used to download a bootleg of the show. According to a 2012 report in Rolling Stone , many artists have now concluded that the volume of bootlegged performances on YouTube in particular is so large that it is counterproductive to enforce it, and they should use it as a marketing tool instead. Music lawyer Josh Grier said that most artists had "kind of conceded to it". Justin Bieber has embraced

345-529: A Uher 4000 reel to reel tape recorder specifically for recording the performances, smuggling them into the venues. The resulting bootleg, Live'r Than You'll Ever Be , was released shortly before Christmas 1969, mere weeks after the tour had finished, and in January 1970 received a rave review in Rolling Stone , who described the sound quality as "superb, full of presence, picking up drums, bass, both guitars and

460-400: A lacquer , test acetate , dubplate , or transcription disc ) is a type of phonograph record generally used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes. Despite their name, "acetate" discs do not contain any acetate . Lacquer-coated discs are used for the production of records . Unlike ordinary vinyl records, which are quickly formed from lumps of plastic by

575-422: A master recording in another medium, such as magnetic tape . In the vinyl record manufacturing process, a lacquer master disc is cut and electroforming is used to make negative metal molds from it; certain molds are converted into stampers, can be used to press thousands of vinyl copies of the master. Within the vinyl record industry, lacquers, sometimes called 'acetates' or 'refs', are also used for evaluating

690-529: A 4-CD set was released containing three and a half hours of recording sessions for the Beach Boys ' " Good Vibrations ", spanning seven months. The tightening of laws and increased enforcement by police on behalf of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other industry groups—often for peripheral issues such as tax evasion —gradually drove

805-601: A Chin from a February 1977 London show at the Hammersmith Odeon . This song also appeared in a different later recording on Sheik Yerbouti . In April 1975 Zappa had a one-sided demo acetate disc cut at Kendun Recorders in Burbank, California. This unreleased disc contains "Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra", "200 Years Old" and "Regyptian Strut". Zappa's liner notes in the June 1975 album One Size Fits All mention

920-457: A cardboard rather than a metal or glass base, and may have noticeably dull or slightly orange-peel-textured surfaces. In addition to the usual central spindle hole , there is traditionally at least one drive hole in the label area, meant to be engaged by a special pin that prevents the disc from slipping on the turntable during the recording process if the lathe does not have a vacuum turntable. Drive holes are often hidden by labels applied after

1035-677: A coating of nitrocellulose lacquer with acetone added to make a varnish. Glass was often used for the substrate during World War II, when aluminum was in short supply. The production process results in a disc that is different in several ways from the vinyl records sold to customers at retail. Most noticeably, vinyl records are comparatively lightweight and flexible, while lacquers are rigid and considerably heavier because of their metal cores. Lacquers commonly come in three sizes: 10-inch (25 cm) discs for singles and 14-inch (36 cm) discs for albums as well as 12-inch (30 cm) discs for LP references and for 10" master cuts. The record's sleeve

1150-831: A commercial label would be unlikely to issue – perhaps most notoriously the 1962 recording of the Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg, which was bootlegged as The Beatles vs. the Third Reich (a parody of the early US album The Beatles vs. the Four Seasons ), or Elvis' Greatest Shit , a collection of the least successful of Elvis Presley 's recordings, mostly from film soundtracks. Bootleg collectors in this era generally relied on Hot Wacks , an annual underground magazine listing known bootlegs and information about recent releases. It provided

1265-531: A four-LP box set titled Läther . Final editing for the album was completed at the Los Angeles Record Plant and Zappa's handwriting on the tape boxes show either EMI or Arista as the intended client. Frank's wife Gail Zappa claimed that Warner, wary of a four-LP box, had declined to release the material in this format. Both sets of recordings (five-LP and four-LP) have much of the same music, but each also has unique content. Zappa announced Läther in

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1380-548: A hotline for fans to report bootlegs and was frustrated that the FBI were not interested in prosecuting. The first set included As An Am Zappa , in which he can be heard complaining about bootleggers releasing new material before he could. Throughout their career, the Grateful Dead were known to tolerate taping of the live shows. There was a demand from fans to hear the improvisations that resulted from each show, and taping appealed to

1495-493: A house orchestra, there would be demand for the original audio recording taken directly from the film. One example was a bootleg of Judy Garland performing Annie Get Your Gun (1950), before Betty Hutton replaced her early in production, but after a full soundtrack had been recorded. The Recording Industry Association of America objected to unauthorised releases and attempted several raids on production. The Wagern-Nichols Home Recordist Guild recorded numerous performances at

1610-703: A large orchestra and was recorded in Los Angeles between 1972 and 1974. More orchestral works come from a September 1975 session with the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded at Royce Hall with conductor Michael Zearott . Zappa said the 1975 orchestral sessions alone cost him about $ 200,000. Most of the live tracks were recorded in December 1976 at the Palladium in New York City . The last recordings are live tracks including Tryin' to Grow

1725-515: A later time, and provide programming "from home" on the Armed Forces Radio Network . (In many cases, the AFRN disc is the only form in which a classic radio show has survived.) 16-inch (41 cm) discs recorded at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3  rpm were used for these one-off " electrical transcriptions " beginning in the mid-1930s. Disc recorders designed for amateur home use began appearing on

1840-435: A mass-production molding process, a lacquer master or acetate (instantaneous record) is created by using a recording lathe to cut an audio-signal-modulated groove into its surface – a sequential operation requiring expensive, delicate equipment and expert skill for good results. In addition to their use in the creation of masters, lacquers were widely used for many purposes before magnetic tape recorders became common, and in

1955-624: A mid September 1977 interview, following a concert in San Diego, where he described it as his "current album". Zappa also wanted to release sides two and four as a single album. He said "it's only the rock 'n' roll, for people who can't afford the box." The single album release never appeared. Zappa attempted to get Läther released in the four-LP box configuration as the first release on the Zappa Records label. He briefly negotiated distribution with Capitol / EMI and then Phonogram Inc. At Phonogram

2070-450: A multi-track mixing console used to feed the public address system at a live performance. Artists may record their own shows for private review, but engineers may surreptitiously take a copy of this, which ends up being shared. As a soundboard recording is intended to supplement the natural acoustics of a gig, a bootleg may have an inappropriate mix of instruments, unless the gig is so large that everything needs to be amplified and sent to

2185-688: A planned studio follow up album which never appeared. Instead, Zappa released the (mostly) live album Bongo Fury in October 1975. Bongo Fury contained a four minute version of "200 Years Old" which was edited from the one on the April 1975 acetate. A complete album titled Six Things was also cut as a demo acetate at Kendun in April 1976. This was an unreleased early edit of music from the Royce Hall orchestral sessions. The same year Zappa tried to negotiate release of an orchestral album with Columbia Masterworks , but

2300-436: A selection of unreleased Dylan songs intended for distribution to music publishers and wondered if it would be possible to manufacture them on an LP. They managed to convince a local pressing plant to press between 1,000 and 2,000 copies discreetly, paying in cash and avoiding using real names or addresses. Since the bootleggers could not commercially print a sleeve, due to it attracting too much attention from recording companies,

2415-490: A successful transition to an age of digital distribution, "unique" (in 2009) among music labels. In the 21st century, artists responded to the demand for recordings of live shows by experimenting with the sale of authorized bootlegs made directly from the soundboard, with a superior quality to an audience recording. Metallica , Phish and Pearl Jam have regularly distributed instant live bootlegs of their concerts. In 2014, Bruce Springsteen announced he would allow fans to purchase

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2530-503: A while, stalls at major music gatherings such as the Glastonbury Festival sold mass copies of bootleg soundboard recordings of bands who, in many cases, had played only a matter of hours beforehand. However, officials soon began to counteract this illegal activity by making raids on the stalls and, by the end of the 1980s, the number of festival bootlegs had consequently dwindled. One of the most critically acclaimed bootlegs from

2645-852: Is an important part of DJ culture. Actual acetate dubplates are declining in popularity, and being increasingly replaced by CDs and vinyl emulation software for reasons of weight, durability and overall cost. Due to their rarity, some acetates can command high prices at auction. Brian Epstein 's collection of Beatles acetates fetched between $ 1,000 and $ 10,000 per disc, a rare one reached £77,500 at auction. An acetate from The Velvet Underground , containing music that would later appear on their first album The Velvet Underground & Nico , sold in 2006 for $ 25,200. An acetate of Elvis Presley's " That's All Right " sold for $ 82,393.60 in 2013. The only known copy of Presley's first recording—a 78 rpm acetate from 1953 featuring " My Happiness " backed with " That's When Your Heartaches Begin "—sold for $ 300,000 at

2760-419: Is prohibited, Fripp's music company Discipline Global Mobile (DGM) sells concert recordings as downloads, especially "archival" recordings from the concerts' mixing consoles . With an even greater investment of sound engineering , DGM has released "official bootlegs", which are produced from one or more fan bootlegs. DGM's reverse engineering of the distribution-networks for bootlegs helped it to make

2875-557: Is that four bonus tracks were also added. Among these is commentary from Zappa taken from his KROQ broadcast. Also, the title of the song "One More Time for the World" was changed to "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution", the title under which the same song appears on the album Sleep Dirt . Along with most of Zappa's material, a "mini-LP" CD edition was also released by Rykodisc in Japan, with

2990-584: Is the live bootleg, often an audience recording, which is created with sound recording equipment smuggled into a live concert. Many artists and live venues prohibit this form of recording, but from the 1970s onwards the increased availability of portable technology made such bootlegging easier, and the general quality of these recordings has improved over time as consumer equipment becomes sophisticated. A number of bootlegs originated with FM radio broadcasts of live or previously recorded live performances. Other bootlegs may be soundboard recordings taken directly from

3105-434: Is typically nothing more than a generic cover from the manufacturing company and the disc's label is similarly plain, containing only basic information about the content (title, artist, playing time, and so on), which is usually typed but may be hand-written. Although once produced in a wide range of sizes (from less than 7 inches (18 cm) to more than 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter) and sometimes with glass core discs,

3220-561: The Ultra Rare Trax series of bootlegs, featuring studio outtakes of the Beatles, showed that digital remastering onto compact disc could produce a high-quality product that was comparable with official studio releases. Following the success of Ultra Rare Trax , the 1990s saw an increased production of bootleg CDs, including reissues of shows that had been recorded decades previously. In particular, companies in Germany and Italy exploited

3335-476: The E Street Band recorded numerous concerts for radio broadcast in the 1970s, which resulted in many Springsteen bootlegs. Some bootleggers noticed rock fans that had grown up with the music in the 1960s wanted rare or unreleased recordings of bands that had split up and looked unlikely to reform. For instance, the release of Golden Eggs , a bootleg of outtakes by the Yardbirds had proven to be so popular that

3450-666: The Metropolitan Opera House , and openly sold them without paying royalties to the writers and performers. The company was sued by the American Broadcasting Company and Columbia Records (whom at the time held the official rights to recordings made at the opera house), who obtained a court injunction against producing the record. Saxophone player and Charlie Parker fan Dean Benedetti famously bootlegged several hours of solos by Parker at live clubs in 1947 and 1948 via tape and disc recordings. Benedetti stored

3565-537: The Mississippi Delta (see Archive of American Folk Song ) by ethnographers , linguists , and musical researchers. Substantial collections of these recordings are available to researchers at academic and national libraries, as well as museums . During the very early tape era, around 1950, acetate discs and portable disc recorders competed with magnetic tape as a location-recording medium, both for broadcast and semi-pro use, but tape's several advantages quickly won

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3680-680: The Trademark of Quality label with William Stout 's cover artwork. Compact disc bootlegs first appeared in the 1980s, and Internet distribution became increasingly popular in the 1990s. Changing technologies have affected the recording, distribution, and profitability of the bootlegging industry. The copyrights for the music and the right to authorise recordings often reside with the artist, according to several international copyright treaties . The recording, trading and sale of bootlegs continues to thrive, even as artists and record companies release official alternatives. The word bootleg originates from

3795-479: The Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA, PL 103-465) in 1994, as well as by state law. The federal bootleg statute does not pre-empt state laws, which also apply both prior to and since the passage of the federal bootleg statute. The US v. Martignon case challenged the constitutionality of the federal bootleg statute, and in 2004, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. struck down the part banning

3910-474: The 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and see limited use as of 2009. Lacquers have not always been used solely as a means of evaluating a tape-to-disc transfer or cutting the final master disc. They were used for many purposes before magnetic tape recorders became common, and in the modern era they are used by dance music DJs. They were used extensively in Jamaica by sound system operators in

4025-495: The 1970s the bootleg industry in the United States expanded rapidly, coinciding with the era of stadium rock or arena rock . Vast numbers of recordings were issued for profit by bootleg labels such as Kornyfone and TMQ. The large followings of rock artists created a lucrative market for the mass production of unofficial recordings on vinyl , as it became evident that more and more fans were willing to purchase them. In addition,

4140-464: The 1970s, particularly the bootleg Spunk , a series of outtakes by the Sex Pistols . It received a good review from Sounds ' Chas de Whalley, who said it was an album "no self-respecting rock fan would turn his nose up" at. The 1980s saw the increased use of audio cassettes and videotapes for the dissemination of bootleg recordings, as the affordability of private dubbing equipment made

4255-407: The 1980s is The Black Album by Prince . The album was to have been a conventional major-label release in late 1987, but on 1 December, immediately before release, Prince decided to pull the album, requiring 500,000 copies to be destroyed. A few advance copies had already shipped, which were used to create bootlegs. This eventually led to the album's official release. Towards the end of the 1980s,

4370-777: The Beach were recorded during 1969 sessions for Hot Rats . The track was finished in 1976 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Down in De Dew comes from November 1972 sessions in New York and Los Angeles. For The Young Sophisticate is a 1973 studio recording from Bolic Sound and is different from the later live version on Tinsel Town Rebellion . The album's opener Re-Gyptian Strut comes from December 1974 sessions at Caribou Ranch in Colorado. Flambe' and Spider of Destiny were also recorded at

4485-473: The Convention states that: Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall have the exclusive right of authorising the reproduction of these works, in any manner or form. ... Any sound or visual recording shall be considered as a reproduction for the purposes of this Convention. This means a composer has performing rights and control over how derivative works should be used, and

4600-539: The LP was issued in a plain white cover with Great White Wonder rubber stamped on it. Subsequently, Dylan became one of the most popular artists to be bootlegged with numerous releases . When the Rolling Stones announced their 1969 American tour , their first in the U.S. for several years, an enterprising bootlegger known as "Dub" decided to record some of the shows. He purchased a Sennheiser 805 "shotgun" microphone and

4715-500: The Panter artwork and added credits. Each of them were either remixed and or altered in various ways. These albums appeared in the US on Zappa's Barking Pumpkin label. In 1995 Rykodisc again reissued Zappa's entire catalog up to that date. None of the four albums related to Läther were altered from the original CD issues, though new analog to digital transfers were made. One year later, Läther

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4830-530: The Who, inspired the official album Odds And Sods , which beat the bootleggers by issuing unreleased material, while various compilations of mid-1960s bands inspired the Nuggets series of albums. According to the enthusiast and author Clinton Heylin , the concept of a bootleg record can be traced back to the days of William Shakespeare , when unofficial transcripts of his plays would be published. At that time, society

4945-563: The acoustic and electric sets, more than any bootleg had done. In 2002, Dave Matthews Band released Busted Stuff in response to the Internet-fuelled success of The Lillywhite Sessions , which they had not intended to release. Queen released 100 bootlegs for sale as downloads on their website, with profits going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust . Although the recording of concerts by King Crimson and its guitarist Robert Fripp

5060-577: The album only after they heard he had negotiated to release the recordings with a competing company. Zappa appeared on WIOQ radio in Philadelphia on October 24, 1977 to promote his concert at The Spectrum the same night. While he played tracks from Läther , the broadcast also included a pre-recorded concert advertisement with a clip of Big Leg Emma from Zappa in New York . He complained about legal problems and pleaded with fans not to buy any of his Warner distributed recordings. Zappa did not indicate he

5175-475: The album, but wrote that it would "appeal far more to the Zappa cultist than the general listener, though the Zappa cult – which has been craving Läther in its original format for years – is a pretty wide fan base in and of itself." All tracks are written by Frank Zappa 1977: 1996: 2012: Bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by

5290-430: The artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging . Recordings may be copied and traded among fans without financial exchange, but some bootleggers have sold recordings for profit, sometimes by adding professional-quality sound engineering and packaging to the raw material. Bootlegs usually consist of unreleased studio recordings, live performances or interviews without

5405-583: The artist; a study of Bruce Springsteen fans showed 80% felt some bootlegs were essential purchases despite owning every official release. Springsteen has said he understands why fans buy bootlegs, but dislikes the market due to the lack of quality control and making profit over pleasing fans. Frank Zappa hated bootlegs and wished to control his recordings, so he created the Beat the Boots! boxed sets, each containing LPs that were direct copies of existing bootlegs. He set up

5520-498: The artwork for these albums was not approved by Zappa. Instead, Warner commissioned the designs from cartoonist Gary Panter . The first of Zappa's lawsuits against Warner was scheduled to go to court starting in January 1982. All four individual albums also went out of print when the DiscReet/Warner distribution agreement ended in 1982. Zappa chose to re-issue the four previously released individual albums on CD in 1991 along with

5635-493: The artwork reformatted to resemble the packaging of a vinyl album. In December 2012 an official reissue of Läther appeared in cardboard packaging with the original intended 1977 artwork. This version omits the 1996 bonus tracks. The official version of Läther was finally released with the authorization of Gail Zappa in September 1996, nearly three years after Frank's death. It is still debated as to whether Zappa had conceived

5750-571: The band's general community ethos. They were unique among bands in that their live shows tended not to be pressed and packaged as LPs, but remained in tape form to be shared between tapers. The group were strongly opposed to commercial bootlegging and policed stores that sold them, while the saturation of tapes among fans suppressed any demand for product. In 1985, the Grateful Dead, after years of tolerance, officially endorsed live taping of their shows, and set up dedicated areas that they believed gave

5865-484: The best sound recording quality. Other bands, including Pearl Jam , Phish and the Dave Matthews Band tolerate taping in a similar manner to the Grateful Dead, provided no profit is involved. Because of the questionable legality of bootlegs, fans have sometimes simply dubbed a bootleg onto tape and freely passed it onto others. Many recordings first distributed as bootleg albums were later released officially by

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5980-625: The bootlegger had managed to interview the band's Keith Relf for the sequel, More Golden Eggs . Archive live performances became popular; a 1970 release of Dylan's set with the Hawks (later to become the Band ) at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966 (incorrectly assumed to be the Royal Albert Hall for years) was critically and commercially successful owing to the good sound quality and

6095-407: The complete four individual album collection actually fills a total of five full-length LPs. After having violated the contract with Zappa, Warner scheduled the release of Zappa in New York on DiscReet. A Warner Bros. Records advertisement in the June 30, 1977, issue of Rolling Stone magazine described the release of the album as "imminent". At approximately the same time Zappa was also planning

6210-463: The concert's historical importance. In Los Angeles there were a number of record mastering and pressing plants that were not "first in line" to press records for the major labels, usually only getting work when the larger plants were overloaded. These pressing plants were more than happy to generate income by pressing bootlegs of dubious legality. Sometimes they simply hid the bootleg work when record company executives would come around (in which case

6325-446: The contest. Recording services hired to record weddings and other private events routinely captured them on tape, but because most homes of the 1950s and early 1960s were not equipped to play tapes, while nearly everyone had a record player, typically the recording was dubbed to disc and supplied to the client in that form and the original tape was recycled. Acetate discs are inherently less durable than some types of magnetic tape, and have

6440-620: The copyright holder. Provided the official release matches the quality of the bootleg, demand for the latter can be suppressed. One of the first rock bootlegs, containing John Lennon 's performance with the Plastic Ono Band at the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival , was released officially as Live Peace in Toronto 1969 by the end of the year, effectively ending sales of the bootleg. The release of Bob Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert on Vol. 4 of his Bootleg Series in 1998 included both

6555-649: The deal fell through when the label did not agree to Zappa's terms. During the fall 1976 tour the Zappa band performed in front slide projector images, one of which said "Warner Bros. Sucks!" Zappa was upset over inadequate promotion. By late 1976 he was determined to complete his Warner contract as soon as possible. As early as December that year Zappa considered handing multiple individual albums over to Warner and had "more than four" currently in production. Contracts then stipulated that Zappa deliver four new albums to Warner for release on DiscReet. In December 1977 Zappa said: "Between last October and December 31 of this year I

6670-482: The demand for and profitability of physical bootlegs. The rise of audio file formats such as MP3 and Real Audio , combined with the ability to share files between computers via the internet, made it simpler for collectors to exchange bootlegs. The arrival of Napster in 1999 made it easy to share bootlegs over a large computer network. Older analog recordings were converted to digital format, tracks from bootleg CDs were ripped to computer hard disks, and new material

6785-541: The desk. Some bootlegs consist of private or professional studio recordings distributed without the artist's involvement, including demos , works-in-progress or discarded material. These might be made from private recordings not meant to be widely shared, or from master recordings stolen or copied from an artist's home, a recording studio or the offices of a record label , or they may be copied from promotional material issued to music publishers or radio stations, but not for commercial release. A theme of early rock bootlegs

6900-462: The digital piracy era, with its songs since remaining on YouTube. Lana Del Rey 's 2006 demo album Sirens leaked on YouTube in 2012. In 2010, YouTube removed a 15-minute limit on videos, allowing entire concerts to be uploaded. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works has protected the copyrights on literary, scientific, and artistic works since 1886. Article 9 of

7015-611: The disadvantage of not being physically editable; unlike tape, acetates cannot be cut and spliced. In the dance music world, DJs cut new or otherwise special tracks on acetates, in order to test crowd response and find potential hits. This practice started as early as in the 1960s in Jamaica, between soundsystems , as a way of competing and drawing bigger crowds. These discs are known as dubplates . Dubplates were used by reggae soundsystems worldwide, and later adopted by producers of various dance music genres, most notably drum and bass and dubstep . Trading dubplates between different DJs

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7130-541: The distribution of video clips via Twitter to increase his fanbase. Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have a unique approach to bootlegging. An entire section of their official website is devoted to releasing bootlegs of their shows. The band permits the distribution and sale of bootlegs, so long as they are given hard copies on vinyl and CD. Notes Citations Bibliography Acetate disc An acetate disc (also known as

7245-434: The distributors of for-profit vinyl and CD bootlegs further underground. Physical bootlegging largely shifted to countries with laxer copyright laws, with the results distributed through existing underground channels, open-market sites such as eBay , and other specialised websites. By the end of the decade, eBay had forbidden bootlegs. The late 1990s saw an increase in the free trading of digital bootlegs, sharply decreasing

7360-477: The ease with which Napster circumvented traditional channels of royalty payments. The video sharing website YouTube became a major carrier of bootleg recordings. YouTube's owner, Google, believes that under the "safe-harbor" provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), it cannot be held responsible for content, allowing bootleg media to be hosted on it without fear of a lawsuit. As

7475-781: The examples most commonly encountered today are 10, 12 or 14 inches (25, 30 or 36 cm) in diameter. Blank discs were traditionally produced in several different grades, with the best and costliest grade featuring the sturdiest core, the thickest coating and the most perfectly flawless mirror-like surfaces. These top-quality blanks were intended for cutting the master discs that, once silver-coated, would be electrodeposited with nickel in order to electroform parts used in making stampers (negative profile metal moulds) for pressing ordinary records. Lower-quality blanks were considered adequate for non-critical uses such as tests and demo discs. Lower-grade blanks were formerly made for home use by amateurs and may be very thin and flexible, may have

7590-667: The final four albums of Zappa's recording contract were then assigned back to DiscReet. Läther was assembled by Zappa in 1977 from a wide variety of recording sessions stretching back as far as eight years, but mostly between 1972 and 1976. The tracks utilize a constantly changing cast of backing musicians. Most of the songs on Läther are linked together with bits of musical sound effects ( musique concrète ) and comic dialog from Zappa band members, Terry Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn, and Davey Moire. More of these same bits, or "grouts" as Zappa allegedly called them, appear on other albums such as Sheik Yerbouti . Basic tracks for Lemme Take You to

7705-488: The fire completely destroying the manufacturing facility. The manufacturing facility is one of only two in the world, the other being Public Record (the lacquers of which are labeled MDC – the name of their principal distributor, based in Japan ). This led to industry experts fearing that the vinyl production supply chain would be put under stress with heavy demand and only one factory worldwide. Lacquers were generally used from

7820-552: The four individual albums into the Läther four-LP box and then presented it to Phonogram. In a January 1978 Zappa interview the British publication New Musical Express said: "Since his (Warner) contract had allegedly been breached, Zappa took his copy tapes of the four albums, added some new material, subtracted some old, and prepared a four-record set called "Läther", but pronounced "Leather". Allmusic writer Richie Unterberger praised

7935-480: The huge crowds which turned up to these concerts made the effective policing of the audience for the presence of covert recording equipment difficult. Led Zeppelin quickly became a popular target for bootleggers on the strength and frequency of their live concerts; Live on Blueberry Hill , recorded at the LA Forum in 1970, was sufficiently successful to incur the wrath of manager Peter Grant . Bruce Springsteen and

8050-517: The label censored the 1978 version of Zappa in New York by removing the song Punky's Whips as well as other references to Punky Meadows , a member of the American glam rock band Angel . The change of album title from "Hot Rats III" to "Sleep Dirt" and editing of the material were also done in violation of Zappa's contract. Since Zappa had supplied only the tapes for the final three albums they were released without musician or songwriting credits. Also,

8165-454: The late 1940s and 1950s. Acetates were often used as "demos" of new recordings by artists and record labels. In preparation for a record pressing, acetates are used for quality control prior to the production of the stampers, from which retail copies of the record will be pressed. The purpose of the test acetate(s) (called, 'reference disks') in the mastering process is to allow the artist, producer, engineer, and other interested parties to check

8280-418: The late 1980s, containing 1960s recordings. In the US, bootlegs had been a grey area in legality, but the 1976 Copyright Act extended copyright protection to all recordings, including "all misappropriated recordings, both counterfeit and pirate". This meant bootleggers would take a much greater risk, and several were arrested. Bootlegs have been prohibited by federal law (17 USC 1101) since the introduction of

8395-503: The layman can create "official" looking CDs. With the advent of the cassette and CD-R , however, some bootlegs are traded privately with no attempt to be manufactured professionally. This is even more evident with the ability to share bootlegs via the Internet. Bootlegs should not be confused with counterfeit or unlicensed recordings, which are merely unauthorised duplicates of officially released recordings, often attempting to resemble

8510-473: The market around 1940, but their high prices limited sales, and then World War II brought their production to a halt. After the war, the popularity of such recorders greatly increased. It was not unusual for a carnival , circus , amusement park , or transit hub to offer disc recording in a booth for a modest fee. Countless discs were cut at parties and family gatherings, both for immediate amusement value and to preserve audio "snapshots" of these events and of

8625-522: The market were not labelled or marked, as distributing studios would only at most have their name and address written on the disc. It was generally up to the recipients to write the song title or name of the artist onto the disc by hand. On February 6, 2020, news broke of a fire at the Apollo Masters manufacturing plant in Banning, California . The plant produces Lacquer discs used in vinyl production with

8740-624: The material as a four-LP box set from the beginning, or only later when working with Phonogram around September–October 1977. In the liner notes to the 1996 release, Gail states that "As originally conceived by Frank, Läther was always a 4-record box set." Despite this claim, however, there is no evidence that Zappa ever delivered the four-LP Läther set to Warner, only the four individual albums. Zappa himself actually contradicted Gail's posthumous claims that Warner had broken up Läther into other albums. Several interviews published in 1978 and an album review from 1996 explicitly state that Zappa re-edited

8855-657: The modern era they are used by dance music DJs. They were used in radio broadcasting to archive live broadcasts, pre-record local programming, delay network feeds for broadcast at a later time, and provide programming "from home" on the Armed Forces Radio Network . They were used extensively in Jamaica by sound system operators in the late 1940s and 1950s. Acetates were often used as "demos" of new recordings by artists and record labels. Some acetates are highly prized for their rarity, especially when they contain unpublished material. Despite their name, "acetate" discs do not contain any acetate . They consist of an aluminum disc with

8970-523: The money for himself, Zappa sued Cohen. Zappa was also upset with Cohen for signing acts he did not approve. Cohen filed a lawsuit against Zappa in return, which froze money which the pair were expecting to receive from an out-of-court settlement with MGM / Verve over the rights to Zappa's early Mothers of Invention recordings. The MGM settlement was eventually finalized in mid 1977 after two years of negotiations. Legal issues also prevented Zappa having access to any of his previously recorded material during

9085-488: The more relaxed copyright laws in those countries by pressing large numbers of CDs and including catalogs of other titles on the inlays, making it easier for fans to find and order shows direct. Similarly, relaxed copyright laws in Australia meant that the most serious legal challenge to unauthorised releases were made on the grounds of trademark law by Sony Music Entertainment in 1993. Court findings were in favour of allowing

9200-471: The official product as closely as possible. Some record companies have considered that any record issued outside of their control, and for which they do not receive payment, to be a counterfeit, which includes bootlegs. However, some bootleggers are keen to stress that the markets for bootleg and counterfeit recordings are different, and a typical consumer for a bootleg will have bought most or all of that artist's official releases anyway. The most common type

9315-423: The ones he previously delivered to Warner and added "Läther was made out of four albums. Warners has released two of them already and they have two more that they're probably gonna release." The first of these four albums was a two-LP live jazz rock album and was produced with Zappa approved cover art. Two others were single disc jazz rock studio albums, while the last was made up of orchestral recordings. Therefore,

9430-435: The other for playback, and a red light to indicate recording was taking place. One problem with the process was the "string" of cut material that followed the recording tone arm as the groove was cut. This "string" could interfere with the recording process and required manual intervention to remove. This relatively bulky equipment, and the bulky discs, were hauled to remote locations such as Yugoslavia (see Milman Parry ) or

9545-617: The practice of smuggling illicit items in the legs of tall boots, particularly the smuggling of alcohol during the American Prohibition era. The word, over time, has come to refer to any illegal or illicit product. This term has become an umbrella term for illicit, unofficial, or unlicensed recordings, including vinyl LPs, silver CDs, or any other commercially sold media or material. The alternate term ROIO (an acronym meaning "Recording of Indeterminate/Independent Origin") or VOIO (Video...) arose among Pink Floyd collectors, to clarify that

9660-539: The printed label could show the artist and song names) and other times secrecy required labels with fictitious names. For example, a 1974 Pink Floyd bootleg called Brain Damage was released under the name the Screaming Abadabs, which was one of the band's early names. Because of their ability to get records and covers pressed unquestioned by these pressing plants, bootleggers were able to produce artwork and packaging that

9775-445: The production of multiple copies significantly easier. Cassettes were also smaller, easier to ship, and could be sold or traded more affordably than vinyl. Cassette culture and tape trading , propelled by the DIY ethic of the punk subculture , relied on an honor system where people who received tapes from fellow traders made multiple copies to pass on to others within the community. For

9890-500: The project reached the test pressing stage. Official documentation for the test pressing shows the project had a "Fixation Date" of 8/31/77 and a release scheduled for Halloween , October 31, 1977. But Warner interfered with these negotiations by claiming rights over the material. By this point Zappa had denied a music copyright license to Warner to reproduce the songs. An article in Billboard magazine, dated October 22, 1977, described

10005-476: The purpose, the master recording was cut into a disc of wax-like material that was too soft to be played non-destructively and had to be used as a mandrel on which to electroform a metal stamper, which was in turn used to make playable pressings . Acetate blanks allowed high-quality playable records to be produced "instantaneously". Acetates were used in radio broadcasting to archive live broadcasts, pre-record local programming, delay network feeds for broadcast at

10120-509: The quality control of official releases. Bootlegs reached new popularity with Bob Dylan 's Great White Wonder , a compilation of studio outtakes and demos released in 1969 using low-priority pressing plants. The following year, the Rolling Stones ' Live'r Than You'll Ever Be , an audience recording of a late 1969 show, received a positive review in Rolling Stone . Subsequent bootlegs became more sophisticated in packaging, particularly

10235-561: The quality of the tape-to-disc recording process and make any necessary changes to ensure that the audio fidelity of the master disc will be as close as possible to that of the original master tape. The actual stamper sets can be made either from oversized lacquers or from DMM blanks (see Direct Metal Mastering ). Before the introduction of magnetic tape for mastering, disc recording was done "live" (see direct to disc recording ), although sometimes intermediate disc-to-disc editing procedures were involved. Before lacquer discs were adopted for

10350-418: The quality of the tape-to-disc transfer. They were once a favored medium for comparing different takes or mixes of a recording, and if pressed vinyl copies of an impending new release were not yet available, acetates were used for getting preview copies into the hands of important radio disc jockeys. Acetates were produced in very small quantities using elementary cutting machines. The majority of discs found on

10465-399: The ranch with additional overdubs in 1976 at the Los Angeles Record Plant. These three are among the songs written by Zappa in 1972 for a stage musical called Hunchentoot . A full script exists, but the recordings of this project were never completed. The most substantial work is The Adventures of Greggery Peccary , a story set to music, which lasts over 20 minutes. The piece is scored for

10580-437: The recording source and copyright status were hard to determine. Although unofficial and unlicensed recordings had existed before the 1960s, the very first rock bootlegs came in plain sleeves with the titles rubber stamped on them. However, they quickly developed into more sophisticated packaging, in order to distinguish the manufacturer from inferior competitors. With today's packaging and desktop publishing technology, even

10695-473: The recording was cut, but they can usually be detected by careful inspection of the label or by holding the disc up to a light bright enough to penetrate the labels. Drive holes are no longer standard on lacquer masters, only on "dubs", because the additional holes can interfere with the electroforming process and professional mastering lathes use vacuum turntables that hold the workpiece (lacquer disc) in place with suction. One pump usually provides suction for both

10810-405: The recordings and they were only rediscovered in 1988, over thirty years after Benedetti had died, by which time they had become a "jazz myth." Most of these recordings were later released officially on Mosaic Records in the 1990s. The first popular rock music bootleg resulted from Bob Dylan 's activities between largely disappearing from the public eye after his motorcycle accident in 1966, and

10925-624: The recordings in the United States within six weeks. Warner failed to honor these contractual terms. Zappa had paid in excess of $ 400,000 out of his own pocket to produce these tapes and in response, he filed a multi-million dollar breach of contract lawsuit. During the long legal battle no Zappa material was released for more than a year. Most of the material on Läther would be released during 1978 and 1979 on Zappa in New York , Studio Tan , Sleep Dirt (previously titled Hot Rats III ), and Orchestral Favorites . In an October 1978 radio interview, Zappa identified these four individual albums as

11040-460: The release of John Wesley Harding at the end of 1967. After a number of artists had hits with Dylan songs that he had not officially released himself, demand increased for Dylan's original recordings, particularly when they started airing on local radio in Los Angeles . Through various contacts in the radio industry, a number of pioneering bootleggers managed to buy a reel-to-reel tape containing

11155-508: The release of unauthorised recordings clearly marked as "unauthorised". The updated GATT 1994 agreement soon closed this so-called "protection gap" in all three aforementioned countries effective 1 January 1995. By this time, access to the Internet was increasing, and bootleg review sites began to appear. The quality control of bootlegs began to be scrutinised, as a negative review of one could adversely harm sales. Bootlegs began to increase in size, with multi-CD packages being common. In 1999,

11270-457: The rights are retained at least 50 years after death, or even longer. Even if a song is a traditional arrangement in the public domain , performing rights can still be violated. Where they exist, performers rights may have a shorter duration than full copyright; for example, the Rome Convention sets a minimum term of twenty years after the performance. This created a market for bootleg CDs in

11385-636: The sale of bootleg recordings of live music, ruling that the law unfairly grants a seemingly perpetual copyright period to the original performances. In 2007, Judge Baer's ruling was overruled, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the anti-bootlegging statute was within the power of Congress. Record companies have described bootlegs as "grey area, live recordings", describing them as "semi-condoned". Research into bootleg consumers found that they are committed fans of

11500-436: The technology to host videos is open and available, shutting down YouTube may simply mean the content migrates elsewhere. An audience recording of one of David Bowie 's last concerts before he retired from touring in 2004 was uploaded to YouTube and received a positive review in Rolling Stone . Bilal 's unreleased second album, Love for Sale , leaked in 2006 and became one of the most infamously bootlegged recordings during

11615-494: The trials. Zappa re-negotiated with Warner and had his contract re-assigned in October 1976. He delivered the album Zoot Allures directly to Warner that month, while bypassing DiscReet. Zappa had intended this as a double LP, but he was later forced to re-edit the release into a single LP at the insistence of Warner executives. Cohen countersued, claiming that the Warner release violated the terms of his DiscReet contract with Zappa. So

11730-527: The true information on bootlegs with fictitious labels, and included details on artists and track listings, as well as the source and sound quality of the various recordings. Initially, knowledge of bootlegs and where to purchase them spread by word of mouth. The pioneering bootlegger Rubber Dubber sent copies of his bootleg recordings of live performances to magazines such as Rolling Stone in an attempt to get them reviewed. When Dylan's record company, Columbia Records objected, Rubber Dubber counteracted he

11845-431: The turntable and the chip tube that pulls away the fine string of nitrocellulose lacquer removed by the groove-cutting stylus. Acetate discs are made for special purposes, almost never for sale to the general public. They can be played on any normal record player but will suffer from wear more quickly than vinyl, since the lacquer does not have the same properties as that of vinyl. Acetates are usually made by dubbing from

11960-454: The upcoming release of Zappa in New York from Warner. The same article also stated that Phonogram would rush-release an all new four record set from Zappa with a list price of $ 27.92. A few uncensored full-length copies of Zappa in New York appeared but the album was quickly pulled from stores. Warner was forced to withdraw it by November due to legal action. Zappa objected to the release at this time and claimed that Warner began to manufacture

12075-467: The vocals beautifully ... it is the ultimate Rolling Stones album". The bootleg sold several tens of thousands of copies, orders of magnitude more than a typical classical or opera bootleg, and its success resulted in the official release of the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! later in the year. "Dub" was one of the founders of the Trade Mark of Quality (TMOQ or TMQ) bootleg record label. During

12190-413: The voices of relatives and friends. Schoolchildren and adults alike used them to practice speeches, amateur musical efforts were immortalized, and snippets of radio broadcasts were captured, all limited by the three- or four-minute maximum playing time of the 78 rpm large-groove format which was still standard for all home-use records. The home recorders typically had two tone arms, one for recording and

12305-544: Was a four-LP box on the "Edison Record" label and appeared to be professionally packaged. Some may have believed this was authorized, despite the fact Zappa's name did not appear on the album. Zappa's relationship with manager Herb Cohen ended in May 1976. Zappa and Cohen were the co-owners of the DiscReet record label, which was distributed by Warner Bros. Records . After Cohen cashed one of Zappa's royalty checks from Warner and kept

12420-484: Was aware of the impending cancellation of Läther , which happened during the following week. In December 1977 Zappa appeared on the Pasadena , California, radio station KROQ-FM and played the entire test pressing of Läther . While encouraging listeners to record the broadcast Zappa also counterclaimed that Warner did not have rights to the material. The same month Zappa said his breach of contract suit against Warner Bros.

12535-473: Was created with digital recording of various types; all of these types could now be easily shared. Instead of album-length collections or live recordings of entire shows, fans often now had the option of searching for and downloading bootlegs of songs. Artists had a mixed reaction to online bootleg sharing; Bob Dylan allowed fans to download archive recordings from his official website, while King Crimson 's Robert Fripp and Metallica were strongly critical of

12650-463: Was for five million dollars but he later claimed twenty million was at stake. Bootlegs of Läther soon appeared. Some came directly from the test pressing, but most were lower quality ones sourced from broadcast tapes. Until the album's official release in 1996 the bootlegs circulated widely. Eventually, Warner issued all four individual albums starting in March 1978 and running through May of 1979. However,

12765-447: Was not particularly interested in who had authored a work. The "cult of authorship" was established in the 19th century, resulting in the first Berne Convention in 1886 to cover copyright. The US did not agree to the original terms, resulting in many "piratical reprints" of sheet music being published there by the end of the century. Film soundtracks were often bootlegged. If the officially released soundtrack had been re-recorded with

12880-426: Was released officially through Rykodisc as a three-CD album. This edition used new 1996 artwork and was released in a plastic jewel case. Gail Zappa confirmed that the stereo master tapes for the four-LP Läther box were used as the source. While Zappa's notes from the tape boxes show a slightly different track listing, the 1996 CD version of Läther is musically identical to the 1977 test pressings. The only difference

12995-417: Was required to deliver to Warner Brothers four completed albums. I delivered all four in March of this year. According to the contract, upon receipt of the tapes, they have to pay me. They received the tapes and they did not pay me." Warner was expecting to receive only one album at a time, not four. Upon delivery the label was required to pay an advance to Zappa of $ 60,000 per album ($ 240,000 total) and release

13110-399: Was simply putting fans in touch with the music without the intermediary of a record company. Throughout the 1970s most bootleg records were of poor quality, with many of the album covers consisting of nothing more than cheap photocopies . The packaging became more sophisticated towards the end of the decade and continued into the 1980s. Punk rock saw a brief entry into the bootleg market in

13225-497: Was to copy deleted records , such as old singles and B-sides, onto a single LP, as a cheaper alternative to obtaining all the original recordings. Strictly speaking, these were unlicensed recordings, but, because the work required to clear all the copyrights and publishing of every track for an official release was considered to be prohibitively expensive, the bootlegs became popular. Some bootlegs, however, did lead to official releases. The Who's Zoo bootleg, collecting early singles by

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