IS ALDI SELLING BOOTLEG VINYL RECORDS?
Popular grocery retail chain ALDI often offer one day 'special buys', and this week its discounted vinyl records sold instore on Wednesday 21st August came into the spotlight.
The offer promoted Vinyl LPs for $14.99 each including artists such as Guns' n' Roses, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, The Rat Pack, Elvis Forever, and compilations including Jazz Legends, 60s Remembered, and Rock' n' Roll Classics.
The titles in questions are offered on the 'Musicbank' label, and fine print on the album covers is reported to state “they have licensed the music for home use”.
Some forum commentators have alleged the albums are bootlegs, while others have suggested that the titles released may be out of copyright and free for anyone to reproduce.
However, Guns' n' Roses' content would not be out of its copyright period of 50 years for content produced before 2005, and 70 years for content produced after 2005.
Musicbank Limited predominantly releases live albums, and describes itself on its Facebook page as “an entertainment company that deals with audio-visual production, advertising and talent management.”
Searches reveal that official websites relating to Musicbank are no longer active, and the only email address is a free Gmail address.
When contacted about possible copyright issues by ALDI selling the LPs, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), said they would liaise with Music Rights Australia to investigate further.
ALDI has been contacted for comment.
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Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After a few years writing for audio magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET, known at the time as Planet Audio, in 1999.
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