I like a good ROIO (Recording of Indeterminate Origin) as much as the next guy – hence, the “boot” in “bootzilla” – but how are legitimate retailers able to sell ROIO’s and get away with it?
As but one example, Elusive Disc offers Bruce Springsteen Human Rights Broadcast - Argentina 1988 as an “import” 2-LP set for $34.99.
According to Discogs, this LP is “[f]rom an FM broadcast recorded live at the River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 15th 1988.”
Whatever else it might be, this LP is not an official Bruce Springsteen release. Back in the day, albums like this would have been called “bootlegs” and they would have been sold discreetly in independent record stores and through shady mail-order operations. Today, they are described as “imports” and are sold via legitimate USA sellers.
Is there some loophole that makes this legal?