Jeff Ulmer hat geschrieben: Sorry, but it does not depend on how people use the site. The guy has no right to be distributing this music in the first place, whether for demonstration or other purposes. Second, he is financing this illegal distribution by selling copies of albums he does not have any rights to. I could see SOME argument if he were simply allowing downloads of the material - preferably excerpts, but this is a commercial venture with one purpose - to make the guy money selling stuff he doesn't own. That is commercial piracy.
While I am sure there are many people who would use the site for research only, it still doesn't help the bands one bit, since none of the proceeds from the sale of used items on ebay ever make their way back to the artist. What could help these bands is a similar listing with information on contacting them or their labels to encourage a reissue, but why should any legitimate label even think of reissuing these albums when they are widely available for free on the 'net?
I have run a nuumber of sites that I fully funded, in the effort to promote the films and bands I featured. One of my sites eneded up encouraging 20th Century Fox to issue the film on DVD, and to include commentary by the director plus other material that I donated. Another helped launch similar sites for the band I featured and increased awareness of them, who eventually reformed after 30 years. If you want to raise awareness for a forgotten act or album, there are proper ways to go about it. This guy's site isn't it.
Well, I partly accept your statement from a musician's point of view, who tries to refund part of all the work he invested in the production and promotion of a record...
But I do not as a music fan, who regularly spends a huge amount of money on LPs and CDs, including a lot of official re-releases, not only 2nd hand ebay stuff (besides I belong to those who ordered both Sacred Blade/Othyrworld releases via your page). Well, you might say, especially as a fan I should...But isn't it true, that since Heavy Metal is around, there has been this discussion between musicians, labels, traders etc. on one side and consumers on the other? In the eighties, music industry (major or independend) was crying about "home taping is killing music", just like they do today because of "internet piracy". To me, your arguments today are quite similar to those of Lars Ullrich attacking Napster.
Now, would you say Heavy Metal was
killed by home taping? I would rather say, it was strongly
promoted and put to the level it once reached by this underground method of getting to hear new music every day. I first got in touch e.g. with your own band, when a friend copied me the record back in the good old times. And though I still own this tape, I ordered your re-releases ages later...
Don't get me wrong, but I just find your statement a little bit too harsh...and I'm fully convinced that, although most people posting in this forum are collectors of originals, almost everybody got a few things only as mp3s, just like we were swopping tapes 20 years ago...One simply cannot afford buying every single CD before checking it out (sometimes intensely) through mp3's or e.g. on pages like "vibrations". I'm not willing to accept the "buy or die"-principle...
Again, I have to state, that I never bought anything from Steve Cannon, and I never will...But I really enjoy surfing his page in search for inspiration...
Rgds, Ice