Bootleg

What are Bootlegs?

The word bootleg actually has a number of meanings. The one we’re all probably most familiar with would be counterfeit, or unauthorized merchandise.

In the context of counterfeit and unauthorized merchandise, bootlegging is one hundred percent illegal.

For example, many t-shirt vendors outside of concerts are actually bootlegging. Anybody with a transfer press, or even an iron, can create hundreds of t-shirts in very little time. Even those without the requisite equipment can simply walk into a sportswear or custom clothing shop and commission dozens or hundreds of t-shirts. Most custom clothing shops do not actually know whether or not every single graphic, trademark, or band name is actually legal for their customers to reproduce, and so, it is very easy to maintain a bootlegging business.

Many bands and venues actually don’t mind bootlegged merchandise, but this doesn’t change the legality. Without express written permission or license, bootlegging counterfeit merchandise is one hundred percent illegal.

An urban legend has it that the word bootleg actually comes from the days of booze smugglers during the American prohibition. Many rum runners would actually hide alcohol in their boots or baggy pants to sneak it past police officers.

Another use of the word bootlegging refers to so called “bootleg recordings”, which are usually recordings that are actually commercially unavailable, but which can be bought through unlicensed, illegal, or illegitimate means. In such an event, the original artist usually does not receive any money, but fans often justify this by claiming that they would gladly pay for that recording if it were released commercially.

Wherever you stand on this issue, ethically, the fact remains that it is not really legal. Again, some artists don’t actually mind it, but still, it is illegal, and whatever the artist’s stance on bootleg recordings, their record label might not feel the same way.

Yet another meaning for the word bootleg would be illegal, emulated video game ROMs. Video games for obsolete systems are pretty easy to copy and put on your computer, and then to distribute for free online. This is another instance where many fans will justify that this is ethical, simply because the games are not commercially available anymore, and haven’t been in, perhaps, several decades. Still, the process is illegal.

There is a bit of confusion regarding bootleg video game ROMs. Many websites state that, if you actually own the video game, that downloading an illegal ROM is completely legal. Others state that you can download a ROM for a twenty four hour period of time, and then delete it, and that this process is perfectly legal.

Neither of these arguments hold much water, though. Downloading unlicensed, bootleg video game ROMs is completely illegal.

Nintendo, Sony and various other companies have taken steps to shut down the websites that distribute these ROMs, and ROMs are actually becoming harder and harder to find these days. There haven’t really been any big cases wherein a ROM collector was charged fines or threatened with jail time for keeping a private collection of ROMs on their computer, but that doesn’t change the fact that bootlegging ROMs is illegal, and that, whether it’s happened yet or not, the owners of the copyrighted material being bootlegged would be well within their rights to press charges against a private ROM collector.

Incidentally, the emulators, programs which allow you to play these video games as if your computer were a Nintendo Entertainment System or a Sega Genesis, are completely legal. This is because it is entirely possible to create wholly new, original games for these emulators. As a result, most video game emulation websites you see will provide you with emulators and homemade game ROMs for those emulators, but will not provide you with illegal ROMs, nor will they provide you with links to illegal ROMs. Many even ban users from their message boards for even asking for, or linking to, illegal ROMs.

Ten years ago, these emulation websites were a little more liberal with their policies, providing illegal ROMs and links to illegal ROM websites, but more recently, with video game companies shutting down these websites, most mainstream emulation websites are taking care of their own interests by distancing themselves from the illegal ROM communities.