Bootlegging: Romanticism and Copyright in the Music Industry

By examining the centrality of Romantic authorship to both copyright and the music industry, the author highlights the mutual dependence of capitalism and Romanticism, which situates the individual as the key creative force while challenging the commodification of art and self. Marshall reveals how the desire for bootlegs is driven by the same ideals of authenticity employed by the legitimate industry in its copyright rhetoric and practice and demonstrates how bootlegs exist as an antagonistic but necessary component of an industry that does much to prevent them. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students in the sociology of culture, social theory, cultural studies and law.