And just like that, Robert Langley is in jail. After Led Zeppelin guitar player Jimmy Page testified at Langley's trial, for charges of bootlegging, Langley changed his plea to guilty and has now been convicted.
Langley, 56-years-old, is in prison for 20 months. Let's go over this again - Langley tries to make a buck by selling some bootleg copies and goes to prison, meanwhile creators of bootleg software have been off the hook since the late-'90s while labels deliberate over mass theft. Let's get some perspective here.
On top of that, Jimmy Page has been releasing slightly different versions of the same songs (most of which he stole from blues originators) since 1980 and lives like a king. Talented guy, certainly, but let's remember what copyrights are for and try not to be hypocritical about it.
On top of Langley's prison sentence, he is soon to face a hearing where he could be stripped of $500,000 in assets.
Jail time and a loss of Half a million in assets? Regardless of the fact that Page might own the copyrights to the music Langley was trying to sell, thousands of kids around the globe are currently stealing the new albums from 50 Cent and Kanye West.
Also, don't make me open up my copyright history class notes - it's too early and too Friday-ish to get into all of that. That said, if anybody needs a copy of Bonzo's Birthday Party or Electric Magic Over Dallas, you know where to find me.
