bootleg videos

dennis

as i said in a previous post, the best way to learn a style of music besides being where it's happening is through videos....

I mentionned there are people who are willing to share their videos myself included but there are a number of problems involved...

for one thing... it takes time to copy videos (properly), having to go to the post office back and forth... purchasing the necessary media (DVD or VHS), etc...

when it's one person asking , it's usually not a big deal, but when you have dozens upon dozens of requests, it gets hectic....

Personally, I'd be more than happy to share my videos with everyone... and I have done so with many local guitarists and people who come to my place...

But otherwise, it's quite time-consuming....

the only thing that makes it worth it for me is to trade or sell...

the latter is something I would like to avoid for obvious reasons but then again for those who have nothing to trade, a little bit of compensation goes a long way...

I have never actually sold any of my videos (except the Ritary DVD which I had permission).

The late and wonderful Mary Honcoop often sold bootleg videos too to compensate for her time... I think she deserved more than what she charged (without her, I would not have progressed very far)...

so what do you guys think about this? what would be a reasonable "fee"?

shipping/packaging usually costs under 5$, the media (VHS or DVD) about 2$... how much should a person get for copying videos for others?

btw I just got a DVD writer after a frustrating time producing Ritary's DVD with an incompetent so-called "professional" video store...

I'm hoping to transfer my VHS collection to DVD... I've got a few already... copying from DVD to DVD is faster than VHS but still time consuming...

pallopenna

I would guess, that your time is the single most expensive part of the proposition. So if you figure that your fee is 50% of the value, then at $14.00, you'd be getting $7.00 for your time, the other $7.00 covering costs. Maybe this isn't enough for your time (in actual terms, your largesse in being willing to consider this at all, the fact that you've obtained the videos in the first place, etc. - it certainly isn't enough), but that's a starting point.

-Paul

CalebFSU

Hey Dennis I probably don't ahve anything you don't have but If you come up witha decent price you can live with e-mail me I am always looking to aquire stuff. speaking of you got an Ritary dvds left?

Jack

Dennis,

To compare, I've had a couple of VHS dubs sent from Canada at $10US each, and for me it was more than worth it. Of course, should you bring any discs to the upcoming workshop in western Mass, we'd save on shipping, and you could grab a coffee or two at the airport...yes, this is a hint. Bring the discs, and I'll buy.

Best,
Jack.

Chad

I think a good way to do it is to send out your videos and or cds to a limited number of folks with the implied agreement that they will in turn pass it along to 5 others etc etc... In that way, we have the opportunity to share preferably non copyrighted materials to a much larger audience. When I did my DFNW cds I believe I sent out about a dozen copies to folks all over the place, Denmark, England, Switzerland, New York, New Orleans, Portland, Anacortes etc. I know some of these have already spread beyond where I sent them and that is a good thing. I consider it an opportunity to share with my fellow musician. It seems that it would be a relatively simple thing for someone in Portland to distribute the materials around the geographical area.
Peace
Chad

dennis

in theory, that definitely is the best way... and i have done that NUMEROUS times over the past few years, but it doesn't seem to be spreading far.... so it's like communism,but given our nature, it doesn't work....

djangology

I think Chad is right. You should make deals with people to pass it along. If you pass to the right people, such as people with DVD burners, then you can optimize the chances for it spreading.

You could also make a chain letter that follows the video and is targeted so that it eventually reaches almost everyone.

I also think that if you itemize your costs and show that you are really not making a true profit then I can't imagine anyone getting silly about selling copies.

dennis

Chad definitely is right, but read my reply to his post..

of course every now and then, I send stuff to friends ... Greg Gunter is a really generous guy, i think he has most of the videos i have.. and he sends me great stuff every now and then...

djangology

so the question is "how is the distribution dilemma to be solved?"

MichaelHorowitz

We can just put Dennis' vid in my Video archive and then anyone who wants can download. The drawback is the compression required for streaming is pretty hard on vids that are already 2nd, 3rd, or sometimes 10th generation!

Anyway, I'd be glad to do it.

'm

guit_box

I'd love to see the videos too, but I have to agree that the quality of the videos posted on this site is not good. A few of them won't play for me and others seem to have audio that is out of sync. On the other hand, it's better than no video, and I do appreciate that you've posted this material for everyone to see.