May 12, 2004
Note to the people at Boing Boing : Bootlegging cannot be comissioned work
by Liza Sabater
Boing Boing: MTV's new mashup bootleg TV show "MTV Mash"
If MTV ordered/comissioned/paid for these bootlegs, THEY ARE NOT BOOTLEGS! A bootleg cannot be commissioned or paid for by the owner to the rights of the product. Check out the wealth of definitions Google provides : Google Search: define:Bootleg
bootleg
adj : distributed or sold illicitly; "the black economy pays no
taxes [syn: black, black-market, contraband, smuggled]
n 1: whiskey illegally distilled from a corn mash [syn: moonshine,
corn liquor]
2: the part of a boot above the instep
v 1: sell illicit products such as drugs or alcohol; "They were
bootlegging whiskey"
2: produce or distribute illegally; "bootleg tapes of the
diva's singing"
When Loo & Placido tell Boing Boing "For the last several months, we've been working with MTV on exclusive bootlegs for a new show called ""MTV MASH" which is broadcast all around Europe 3 times a week."; they are just throwing your way well worded, market researched PR-babble. The intention? Use viral marketing because it reaches their target audience in a cost-effective way.
Y'all ought know better.
Posted by Liza Sabater in Advertising, Blogs, Commerce, Culture, Marketing, Memes, Music, Public Relations
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Say it loud, say it proud!
hmmmm, I think its actually the inverse, MTV is using the term "correctly" its just that the definitions via google haven't quite caught up to the definitions "on the street" or more likely up in IRC someplace... Bootleg in this case is referring not to the act of bootlegging or the product of that act, but to a genre of music: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/01/bootlegs/print.html
2
Comment by: liza at May 14, 2004 03:41 AM
Abe,
I read the article and I am quite appaled. As a linguist, it completely distorts the word. Mash-up I can understand as a better term. Given all the DMCA fights over copyrights and trademarks, bootleg reads as exactly its traditional term. I mean, the reason mash-ups are bootlegs is due to their illegal use of tracks.
I think this is an example of people misusing the language.
1
Comment by: Abe at May 13, 2004 01:21 PM