The problem is, that much of Yello stuff can be bought in record stores here in Finland and probably in many other places in Europe.
Surprisingly, here in the UK even in the largest record shops usually only have a few old Albums on the shelf, though all can of course be ordered in. This is of course true throughout the world... Yello is not signed to some two-bit independent record label with no distribution network. Even if your local store doesn't have a particular Yello album they can order it in for you very easily. You've just got to ask them. (And sometimes find a shop assistant who has a clue. I always avoid the teenagers. <grin>) But this is a separate issue from what we were really discussing, which was buying products that you *cannot* just order in because they either have *never* been released, or are now out of print, or are only available in a format which is not compatible with your country's TV standards.
When people put stuff for sale on ebay, people from Finland can buy it, and Boris and Dieter are left without their money. Therefore, it's not okay to sell copies on the net, but maybe it's okay to buy, sometimes.
Now you appear to be talking about buying second hand stuff. You are quite right that if I buy even a genuine (non-bootlegged) album from eBay then the artist does not get any money, but this has always been the case and is of course not limited to eBay or even the internet. I regularly go to Record Fairs where you can buy many second hand albums, mostly out-of-print 12" or CD-single releases, but also plenty of albums and stuff still available in the shops. (Though you'll pay half price or less for the second hand item.) Is this fair? Am I under a moral obligation to only buy new stuff? If you actually do believe that then you'd better start boycotting your local library too! After all, every book you borrow, rather than buy, has just deprived the author of money. And don't even think about lending a book to a friend... Your soul may be damned forever! Ok, ok. I'm getting silly now. But I think my point is made. There is plenty of acceptable (and what is more, *legal*) "sharing" of artistic work going on out there. Bootlegging (and even file sharing on the 'net) overlaps the legal and non-legal sharing of artistic material. How much overlaps in any individual case will of course vary, but it's exactly because such issues are *not* clear-cut that we are even having this discussion. I'll state my personal position again, with a bit more detail: I make enough money that I can afford to buy any new-release item by the artists that I like, and I do so. The artists I really like I often buy stuff second hand or bootlegged because there is simply *no other way* to get that material. I'll happily take a copy from somebody or download off the net some obscure remix of a track because I can't find it elsewhere. Sometimes I have paid a sizable amount to buy a genuine release from a collector of a track I already have as an MP3 because I'm the sort of person who "likes to have it sitting on his shelf." (My Yello collection probably takes 2 feet of shelf space these days.) And I very much doubt I'm alone is being like this, especially on this mailing list. For the most part we are the "slightly obsessive" sort of fan who cares about obscure old releases, who do consult the discography to see "what we're missing", etc. Of course we want Dieter and Boris to keep producing new stuff, so we buy what we can, but we also won't stop ourselves from lending stuff to friends to see if we can't get them hooked too, and we won't think twice about emailing another like-minded fan a MP3 of a rare remix only found on the 2 CD version of "Hands on Yello" because, though it is a cliché, it is a victimless crime. It certainly doesn't cost Dieter or Boris anything, in fact, it's keeps the fan-base alive and interesting between new releases, which indirectly helps them. So, those of you on the list who appear to have a desire for us to be more "stringent" in us following the letter of the law, watch out what you wish for. We'll all be the poorer for your black-and-white approach to life. Michael PS: I'll try to make this my last long-winded email for a while and just go back to my usual lurking now... <grin>