Expecting Rain

There's this fantastic error in the story, early on, that might actually be a legitimate Freudian slip. They say,

“Our goal is to tackle privacy, not go after fans of bands or artists,” said Giacobbi.

Obviously, they mean "piracy" not "privacy" but... hmmmmmm......

Ultimately, where it is the artist who has decided to reign in the sprawling morass of unauthorized downloads, how exactly do you bitch and moan about that?

It's clear that some "fans" (more than likely the "true" ones) actually think they're in the "master" position in an odd "master/slave" relationship with the artist.

"He owes his whole career to us! We'll teach him! We'll break him!"

Yup. Nothing worse than them uppity musicians.

Dylan apologists! Assemble!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8330633.stm

An interesting article from the BBC's website on these matters.

One aspect I found interesting about it is that it's written by someone a 40-year old 'traditional' music fan, but doesn't get in the all too conventional 'it used to be better in the older days'.

Did that lady just fly through Captain America's shoulder???

The Dylan vs Times Magazine interview was a classic and will be missed. A lot of people watch these videos and are introduced to Dylan for the first time and become Dylan fans.I linked a video from the show I attended in LA and it was pulled from my Facebook a day later.People were asking me who's the web sheriff,are you in trouble now? I for one enjoy Youtube videos of Dylan through the decades,and think these actions are a mistake. Besides didn't Dylan himself give a shout out to Youtube on TTRH once?

Hey Smiley, Long Johnny & feet of a harlot (& Everyone),

Did we catch our name blowing in the wind ?? ... .. just dropping-by to clarify a couple of points and, hopefully, to allay some of your fears ... .. first-of-all, the primary objective here is simply to protect the “Christmas In The Heart” charity album from excessive ripping and file-sharing etc and, in so doing, maximize the funds raised for Feeding America, Crisis and the World Food Programme – something that, again hopefully, most people will be more-than-happy to help with ... .. in which regard and as many of you will know, “Must Be Santa” has been designated as the official preview track for fans and bloggers to share / post / host etc and you are actively invited to help spread-the-word and raise awareness of the fund raising aspect of this release across the net / around the globe (again by using the preview track as well as the ‘donate’ widget available from bobdylan.com).

Secondly and as some of you have commented on YouTube clip removals, these have actually been very limited in nature and have simply been targeted at improving the, at times opaque, YT ranking system and so that – as now – on page 1 of a standard (ie. relevance) search, clips from the official channel / BobDylanTV are more prominently featured ... .. previously, the official videos were, in effect, buried under an avalanche of unofficial, bootleg and pirated clips and the need for this modest re-alignment of the listings is something that people can hopefully understand (even if they do not all necessarily agree with it) ... .. fyi, new content shall be coming to the BobDylanTV channel shortly – including the special, official video for “Must Be Santa” – so that, in time, this shall become the best and easiest to access resource for Dylan fans worldwide ... .. we’d simply ask for your patience during this process and would again state that such other changes as may be implemented would largely – and again simply – relate to the use of courtesy crediting when you use BD copyrights and trademarks etc (which, we hope you’ll agree, isn’t too much to ask in return).

Anyway, NOT here to admonish – far from it, as fans are the lifeblood of any artist - so just dropping-by to add our nickel’s worth and some much needed clarification.

On behalf of everyone involved with “Christmas In The Heart”, many thanks for your help in raising awareness and funds for these good causes – let’s all make Christmas special for those in need.

Best (to All),

WEB SHERIFF

WEB SHERIFF, thanks for your post and for clarifying the situation. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that BD fans are an intense group as a whole and that this will often be reflected in their comments.

Many of us are waiting anxiously for that Must Be Santa video. I'm sure it'll be a mind blower!

Hi MatchStriker (& Everyone),

Many thanks for your post ... .. and for allowing us to clarify these issues ... .. not long to go now before the MBS video is launched and keep-an-eye on official sources for news and details of further, on-line promotions and previews etc ... .. your help in relaying these and in directing fans and bloggers to the official sites for Feeding America, Crisis and the World Food Programme is greatly appreciated.

All The Best,

WEB SHERIFF

Last I checked, that video of the Time interview was still available on Dylan's official website, bobdylan.com.

wolfgangs vault soon to start selling dylan material legitimately.
unauthorised (non-profit for mr. dylan) material being forcibly removed from the internet.
2 + 2 = 4

"Our goal is to tackle privacy." It seems they've accomplished that.

something must definetly be done to protect our precious A-Z thread... no matter how drastic

As with so many of BD's fans, the live recordings keep me coming to see him whenever he's in town, buying the albums, etc.


If things go back to snail mail cd trades, I wonder what people's mp3's will be worth?

"If things go back to snail mail cd trades, I wonder what people's mp3's will be worth?"

the square root of x all

Hey PaxViri, JNB, TRA, G07 & Smoke,

Thanks for your posts ... .. and please rest assured that this is not the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it / that no drastic actions are planned ... .. should there be any further changes to the-rules-of-the-game, then these shall be flagged in well advance and guidelines shall be provided to ensure that fans and bloggers can continue to enjoy creating great content etc.

Best,

WEB SHERIFF

P.S. Smoke – great avatar ... .. dare we say it, any suggestions for ours ??!!!

nothing would be better for the dylan fan world if every torrent site, every mp3 board and every youtube type of place was stripped of dylan material.
at the moment, no appreciation is shown for what is available, no effort is needed to get anything and everyone is blaise.
real trading, of real lossless material, on real discs through the mail, is the way ahead.

How about this guy? :

Boring.

re:youtube

when I go to youtube to see Bob Dylan, I don't care about the official videos. They all suck.

I want to see audience videos. "re-aligning" things is pretty, pretty, pretty stupid.

web sheriff -- thank you for your courteous replies

please tell bob that performance videos mean a lot to us and that they are the 21st century equivalent to that transistor radio he listened to as a young kid, wherein he found his first love of music

i also feel they are going to be found to be of monumental importance for historical/artistic uses when we are all long gone and their creation is an act of performance art themselves -- pennebaker's legacy, full circle for bob - he owns the cutting edge, so here is his chance to grab the future for the past so to speak

hope they don't sheriff my memories some day

Gotta be this!

Hey Jules, MatchStriker, F&BF & A29,

Thanks for your posts and suggestions ... .. the John Wayne avatar is retro-cool (and much better than the Sheriff of Nottingham !!), although F&BF’s suggestion is pretty sassy ... .. as for A29’s point, the official channel will be significantly enhanced over time (please be patient) and the only aspect being ‘re-aligned’ is the first page of YT relevance / standard searching - so that people looking for BD vids for the first time will be able to see that there is actually an official channel !!

Thanks again for your feedback and feel free to keep the avatar suggestions coming before we pick / use one (well, ‘printable’ ones anyway).

Best Again,

WEB SHERIFF

P.S. Jules – we don’t disagree that folk can sometimes get a bit blasé and start treating everything as if it’s public domain ... .. the solution lies in finding a fair and proper balance between fan freedoms and artists’ rights etc ... .. an important part of this is simply acknowledging that artists should have some say over where and how their music is distributed on-line – as, after all, it is their music !!

P.P.S. bobschool – thanks for your eloquent response and, similarly, rest assured that we won’t be taking the batteries out of the transistor radio (interesting analogy by the way).

P.P.P.S. Smoke - thanx ... .. can you tell that this is being written in real-time ?!

Yes thanks for clarifying Web Sheriff. Please tell Bob how much the audienc vids mean to us fans. We go to concerts, but unless your lucky enough to be right up front, your not seeing much. I know the vids are supposed to be no-no's but if the shoe was on the other foot and he was a fan...not everyone got close enough to have Buddy Holly look at them!!

an ill wind is blowing. mark my words.

We've met before Mr. Web Sheriff!

You attempted to engage in this familiar "I'm really your buddy" manner on one of the old Van Morrison forums. Unforunately, and unsurprisingly, that forum has now gone.

What this engagement actually tells us is that they're now monitoring this particular Bob Dylan forum. Their supposed hunt for an avatar suggests they're going to around here for at least awhile.

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing. . .

smiley