What can you do when someone releases your track on vinyl without asking?

granjerogranjero 147 Posts
edited September 2015 in Strut Central
And there's no ambiguity about it - your name is on the record and everything.
And they're not in your country so you can't just go round, nor will a Small Claims work for you even if you could magic up a figure that was appropriate. And anyhow you wouldn't have said yes to the release if they had asked, because it's just an easy money spinner for whoever does release it 'cos the Discogs price on the original release (from 2002) is like $100.
And you have no money you're willing to throw at it so you can't get a lawyer to cease and desist their asses.
And you feel sort of affronted.
I mean, this is Small Time alright but it's 1/2 the principle and 1/2 the WTF

  Comments


  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    That's cold.

    I don't know how you could deal with this, except in this little way:
    http://www.poopsenders.com/

  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts
    I would make the track in question available for download for free on soundcloud and call the label out on bootleging in the description. Maybe this way the bootleg record won't as sell as much. You could also contact the distributors and tell them your concern, maybe then they won't distribute and sell the record. Not fully satisfying, I know...

  • parallaxparallax no-style-having mf'er 1,266 Posts
    What is the track in question?

  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    Just give us the comp and we will press up some of our own and flood the discogs market.

  • finelikewine said:
    I would make the track in question available for download for free on soundcloud and call the label out on bootleging in the description. Maybe this way the bootleg record won't as sell as much. You could also contact the distributors and tell them your concern, maybe then they won't distribute and sell the record. Not fully satisfying, I know...

    This is quite a good idea, thanks.
    I asked some online shops not to sell it and some have taken it down, though one shop said since they'd already bought them did I want to buy their remaining copies (err, no thanks). The distributor knows now. Hopefully someone from the label will respond to my shitty email. Though I wouldn't if I was them.
    Just weird to think that someone would think it was ok to do this and get away with it. And then you think, oh, they'll probably get away with it anyway. Pressing up, what, 300 copies or whatever.

  • Putting them on blast here should be your first step.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Yer, name names.

    I need to know whose side I'm on and who to hate.

  • I think we'd lunched out filling in MCPS and PRS forms by this point.. it's a bit hazy.. I think I need to see a copyright lawyer
    Writing a Cease And Desist letter using a template seems the right thing to do, but were I not a husband and father I would rather take a trip to Paris
    The guy who owns the label appears to call himself Rockstar Striker..

  • Dude sorry for that... If I was still living in the city of Love, Lights, Cheese/Wine, I would have gladly knocked on the door of that stupidly named bootlegger and asked for what might be a fair compensation for you. At least pass a message. But actually what you could do is find Bapt who is lurking around sometimes here (not sure whether there is a username/user location search option). But he might need something more solid than a silly nickname to go talk to the guy cos I got zero Google hint with it...


  • I think a cease and desist to the distributor might be more effective than to "Rockstar." Unless the distributor paid for the pressing, it's not a big deal for them to drop a release. If they did pay for the pressing, they could recoup the cost from "rockstar" for violation of the label-distributor p&d agreement (although it would be a process for them). At the very least if they are smart they would drop this "Rockstar" character and perhaps he won't pull a stunt like this again.

    I'd also put everyone ("rockstar," distributor, stores, etc) on blast on social media, blogs, forums, etc. Reputations mean a lot on the dance music world, me thinks. If stores start bothering the distributor about this, all the better for you.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    granjero said:
    I would rather take a trip to Paris
    The guy who owns the label appears to call himself Rockstar Striker..

    Website says Hardrock Striker. Either way dude deserves bad luck (or whatever else you can do to him) for the name alone.

  • Sorry, Hardrock Striker, that's the one.
    I have zero reach on social media so I need to recruit some friends to put it out there that Hardrock Striker stole my music.
    One of his label's has a motto: Stay Underground, It Pays
    which must be fucking ironic

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    granjero said:
    One of his label's has a motto: Stay Underground, It Pays
    which must be fucking ironic

    Criminal irony is a whole new type!

    They represent some big names, actually:

    "3/ We are also an A G E N C Y :

    DJ Sprinkles, Jason Grove, Beppe Loda, Daniele Baldelli, Perseus Traxx, Violence FM, Simoncino, Nick Beringer, Walter Jones (DFA), Italowerk (Beppe Loda & Hardrock Striker Dj Set), Loud E, Santiago Salazar, Crème Organization (TLR Dj set), Dj G.A.R.T.H & Hardrock Striker"

    Surely some of those folks would not want to be associated with some gutter ish.

  • I know! It's fucking weird. They've released some credible music from veteran US house producers.
    The guy knows his shit, which makes it all the more offensive.
    Neither the label nor the distributor (Synchrophone) has replied to my emails.

  • Even if your personal reach is minimal, you can post on the distributor, label, and retailer public pages and everyone will see (unless they delete). And tweet at them too.

  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,778 Posts
    What can you do when someone releases your track on vinyl without asking?

    You get on a plane, fly to Paris, track the guy down, stalk him back to his apartment, break in at night, and you fuck the guy in the ass (sans lube) not because you like it, not because he might like it, but because it's the right thing to do, and you video this, and you send it to Pornhub, and you ask for a measly 3% royalty not because you want the money, not because you're trying to make a profit out of him, but to pay for all the adult diapers he'll need after you've fucked him in the ass so damn hard, because you're nice like that.


















    But putting him on blast might be a lot easier.




    If he had wanted to contact you about a reissue, could he have?

  • OK the guy just phoned me and is sending an agreement and paying for the track.
    Said he never intended to do a bootleg and would have done it on a white label if so
    Storm In A Teacup

  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    that doesn't mean you can't take do him in the pooper like the guy a few posts previous suggests.

  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,778 Posts
    granjero said:
    OK the guy just phoned me and is sending an agreement and paying for the track.

    Butt-diaper fears revealed!!!
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