Photosynthesis t-shirt

[NikkiS]

Spotted a guy wearing a tee with 'Photosynthesis' lyrics at Nottingham last night. Trawling through the internet and I can't find one anywhere. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Craven]

Have you looked on redbubble.com ? There's usually FT lyric tshirts on there.

[frank]

Or you could, y'know, not buy bootlegged merch.

[Craven]

Fair point! Thursday was the first time I've seen a bootlegger selling tshirts at the end of a gig in Cardiff in a long time - do you see a difference between them and the stuff on sites like redbubble, which is mainly fan art?

[oakworth]

Not a legal expert, but surely any use of an artists lyrics is bootlegging if said artist doesn't receive any share of the revenue. I personally give these sites a miss out of principle. Shame because some of their work is quite good.

[frank]

People outside shows are generally part of organised crime groups, really fucking nasty people. Online bootlegging, well it's less openly criminal but it's still unauthorised. Merch is one of the main ways I make a living (now that people don't but record; also, while I make a profit touring the UK, I've lost fortunes touring the USA, Australia etc., so that kind of breaks even). So it's pretty depressing from my end.

[sarahg]

That stinks, official merch all the way!

[marowak]

People outside shows are generally part of organised crime groups, really fucking nasty people.

Not making light of bootleggers - but when i read this it made me think of the likes of Avon Barksdale and Marlow Stanfield getting their UK crews out to the Arenas to sell them.

I just can't believe we still have profited touting, bootleggers etc outside music venues.

[Craven]

People outside shows are generally part of organised crime groups, really fucking nasty people.

I just can't believe we still have profited touting, bootleggers etc outside music venues.

Is it illegal? A couple of cops outside a venue wiling to make arrests/seize goods would start to put people off? Or am I being to naive?

[NikkiS]

So, if the tee I spotted wasn't official, bet there's a load of us out there (especially us more 'mature' fans) who would pay for an official 'And I won't sit down, and I won't shut up, and most of all I will not grow up' tee? Just like the official 'Recovery' tee I bought last night.

[frank]

People outside shows are generally part of organised crime groups, really fucking nasty people.

I just can't believe we still have profited touting, bootleggers etc outside music venues.

Is it illegal? A couple of cops outside a venue wiling to make arrests/seize goods would start to put people off? Or am I being to naive?

I know people who've had guns pulled on them (shot at in one instance), legs broken and so on. The cops don't care much. The same people run drugs and they're more bothered about that.

[LoveStreet]

Don't ever buy merch from a guy on the street corner! When I say Fall Out Boy in 2005 there was a guy outside a block up selling shirts from a box. They looked official, so chances are they were stolen.

[NikkiS]

So, bootleggers are shit denizens of the underworld, got it...now can we get a Photosynthesis tee in the official store?

[Simon Says]

People outside shows are generally part of organised crime groups, really fucking nasty people. Online bootlegging, well it's less openly criminal but it's still unauthorised. Merch is one of the main ways I make a living (now that people don't but record; also, while I make a profit touring the UK, I've lost fortunes touring the USA, Australia etc., so that kind of breaks even). So it's pretty depressing from my end.

A few years ago I made the mistake of pausing outside a gig to look at some merch. When I walked away the guy was very aggressive. I have never bothered with unauthorised goods since.

[Watergirl]

As someone who has bought plenty of shirts outside venues over the years I am wondering if I should feel guilty now...
I understand Frank's point of view and actually have always bought official FT T-shirts/hoodies. They are reasonably priced anyway.
I have many Bruce T-shirts though that I have bought outside. His official shirts are ridiculously expensive and when you read the label you find that they are 'made in Bangladesh' anyway. The sweat shop element bothers me more than stealing from Bruce, whom I have spent and continue to spend loads of money on anyway (he has just started selling official concert downloads….).
I wasn't aware of pirated FT T-shirts. In my mind, if a band is big enough that someone bothers to print bootleg shirts, that band is probably rich enough not to miss my money, as in the Springsteen case. Similarly I have a friend who used to sell bootleg cassettes of concerts. He got nervous once when Adam Clayton approached his stall, but Adam saw the situation straight away and said "Don't worry about it man".
Smaller acts make up the other side of this debate. Belfast singer/songwriter Andy White is quite open about his financial situation in his book "21st Century Troubadour". He needs his merch income to get by. There is a funny part where he discovers that if he prints the same shirt in four colours, the Japanese fan will buy all four. Jokes aside, the bottom line is that Andy can make a living as a musician, but only just.
That leaves Frank somewhere in the middle. I guess it is a measure of success if you become popular enough for the bootleggers to take an interest.