Bootleg Melvins posters

[PepsiMike]

How do you feel about bootleg Melvins posters? You may see certain sellers saying they "got them at an estate sale" (which of course is a lie), but in the following examples, the seller has just made up (or lifted) images for past shows, and prints/sells them for a low price. If the sellers were honest about the source of these posters, would you be ethically ok with this business?

[Snivlemdotcom]

who is selling these?

Bootleg trash only helps the trash doing the bootlegging.

[amazonAMAZON]

Bootlegging in 2023 should only be a labor of love. I'm grateful to some of the tapers who captured shows in the 90s so that I can now go on archive or YouTube and listen to them. But selling it is ridiculous. I think by enjoying a taped show (ethically) you must then commit to purchasing if the product becomes available from the artist.

Same thing here. If I took the image myself and printed it out at home then I should automatically purchase the legit one if the band ever reprints it.

But buying a bootleg is piracy. It's being complicit in theft and supporting rip-offs.

Some great fans have dedicated big portions of their time to curating and distributing that material. And that doesn't go unnoticed. I'll donate to someone or buy their legitimate products if I want to show my support. But out of principle I won't pay for that illegal shit, no matter how much I want it.

[vince furnier]

man. that picture is rough. they had almost no overhead on this operation and still couldn't do any better than that??? 

[GiveMe45]

I know that I have more than a handful of bootleg T-shirts in the hundreds of shirts that I have. Some I didn't know were bootleg, but then after I caught on I still bought a few. I don't like the idea of people profiting off of bands without their knowledge or permission, but some of the stuff that I have, the bands will never have available ever again. Doesn't make it ok and I still try to financially support those bands as much as possible.

I would probably buy a bootleg poster of the L7 tour in Seattle the next day because that was my first time seeing Melvins