I don't download anything much from the net at all, whether it is official or bootleg. I have downloaded podcasts but that doesn't deprive anyone of royalties. I have downloaded maybe two or three out-of-print jazz albums that some enthusiast put up. I have also paid for something like three tracks that were only available on-line.
I take no high moral stand on this matter. It is just my personal preference.
As for record companies, they are necessary but, being businesses, have to be concerned about their bottom line, not the wishes and desires of fans, especially where these do not contribute to the bottom line. However, record comapnies can be hypocritical themselves. For example, when Columbia was recording one Stravinsky piece (and this recording was being done in sections to be joined together), they discoverd after the event that they had inadvertantly failed to record one part. It was too late to rectify things, so, having incurred the recording costs with no prospect of recouping that outlay, what did they do? The answer is : they snipped a bit from a recording made by a rival record company and inserted it in their own recording.
The songwriting copyright world is like a pit of snakes - easy to fall into, difficult to extricate oneself from and potentially harmful. Take the song "Caldonia", as originally performed by Louis Jordan. Almost certainly, he wrote the song but it is credited to "F.Moore". This was Fleecie Moore, who was married to him at that time. He used this device to get round his contractual obligation to another music publisher. As was inevitable in such a scenario, the couple subsequently divorced (it was acrimonious, not to say violent) but she continued to reap the financial rewards.
Incidentally, "Caldonia" was next recorded by Erskine Hawkins, who also had a hit with it, I believe. When the Erskine Hawkins version was reviewed in BILLBOARD (this was in mid-1945), two notable things were contained in the review. Firstly, they wrongly attributed the song to Phil Moore, a jazz trumpeter and band leader, but, more significantly, the review started with the words "It's a right rhythmic rock and roll music ....". , believed to be the first time that the phrase "rock and roll music" appeared in print. The review was written by M.H.Orodenker but who remembers him? And think how much he could have made if he had copyrighted the phrase.
And, in case you're wondering, I had a vague recollection about all this but had to check it out before posting it.
