I admit that I occasionally copy legitimate CDs for friends, but I only do it
for friends who
1) will buy the legitimate disc if they like the copy I gave them or
2) dispose of the disc if they don't like it.
The friends I share music with are "ethical" in this regard. They are all
for supporting artists they appreciate and wouldn't settle for a burned copy
of a disc if they genuinely like it. So I rationalize this practice with an
"ends justify the means" argument. The way I look at it, my friends (and
it's a fairly large circle of friends) and I have have benefited many artists
by illegally copying their discs. Example: I made a copy of the Tom Waits
discs "Bone Machine" and "Small Change" for my friend Gary. He loved them so
much that he went out and bought Waits's entire catalogue. This same
practice turned me on to a slew of "alt-country" bands a few years ago when a
friend gave me a mix disc containing Whiskeytown, the Asylum Street Spankers,
Lambchop, Wilco, the Waco Brothers and others. My collection now boasts over
50 legitimate discs from these and other artists who appeared on that burned
mix disc.
But I am with Steve (Cuneiform) about stocking one's music collection with
illegal copies of legitimate albums. No matter how you slice it, it's wrong.
As you can see I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too. But I put my money
where my mouth is. If I like an artist that I hear on an illegal disc I buy
the legit copy. No two ways about it. If I don't like it I don't pass it on
(unless I think the receiver will buy the legit copy as a result of hearing
the copy).
To paraphrase Elvis Costello: Live recordings are for the obsessed and are
more often than not amusing and therefore harmless for people to collect
without the artist's consent; open trading of studio material is the practice
of gangsters and thieves.
Tom
