The debate over proshots and bootlegs has been going on since the 80's, and has heated up substantially in professional musical theater spaces in the last couple years. I, for one, as a theater artist myself, am pro-bootleg, WITH some caveats. Bootlegging is a lot older than the popular "slime tutorial" culture, and there are many rules of respect in those circles that aren't really known by newer fans. There's a bit of barrier to entry, so I want to talk about bootleg culture, and hopefully expand people's acess (as long as they are willing to respect the current community).

And no I'm not going to directly tell you how to bootleg.

Terms & Definitions:

• Bootleg
  • A recording, audio or visual, of a live theatrical performance taken without permission
• Slime Tutorial
  • A bootleg posted to YouTube. The name originates from fake / clever names given to YouTube bootleg uploads to mask the fact that they are illegal recordings. By the way, YouTube's content match will match and claim the songs in the show regardless of the name, and this may or may not have any effect on how quickly it gets found.
• Archive Recording
  • Video taken by the theater company itself to preserve evidence of the show or use for press. While authorized by the theater, they are usualy acting against their licensing agreement, this is a sort of unspoken knowledge that all theaters do this. These recordings are occasionaly made avaliable to the cast, but are not meant to be public. Vary in quality and rarely edited. Can be viewed on request from some theaters and archive institutes.
• Proshot
  • Shortening of "proffesionally shot", proshots are videos authorized by both the theater and the licensing to allow for distribution. Usually high quality, edited, and otherwise prepared for release.
• Demo Album
  • An album that was recorded by the cast/company for the purposes of press, rehersal, and investors. Not licensed for sale, but occasionally posted for free or added to a publicly acessible portfolio.
• Master
  • The person who originally recorded a bootleg.
• Leak / Leaked
  • Made public without permission. This can be an archive or demo album posted without permission from the company, or a bootleg posted without permission from the master.

Some Guidelines

• Do not leak masters
  • Even in gifs, screenshots, or short form videos. This is pretty much the biggest rule, and the number one thing that will get out ousted from trading communities. Do not break the limts set by the master.
• Do not out yourself
  • If you are engaging in illegal activity, do not post about it on social media. Even something as seemingly small as bootlegging. Do not post about which masters you trade with or where you plan to bootleg. If you do post your own videos, use an acount with no connection to your personal information. Unlike Facebook or Tiktok, bootleg communities do not need or want to know your real name.
• Respect actors
  • Everyone has their favorites, that's okay! But remember that everyone who worked on a show is a person, and all interpretations of a work are valid.

I'm not going to get too into the weeds about ethics. Yes it's illegal, I don't care about the licensing companies but I do care about the actors and designers not getting acess to dues, dues paid only for proffesionaly licensed and released proshots. The real power is in the hands of the license, the simple answer is more proshots. Opera, ballet, and many straight play companies have a long history of proshots with TV and physical releases. From a money perspective, they have already found ways to profit from more than just video sales by premiring proshots in theaters - such as the Spirited Away stage show in Japan. Many people will pay for a real proshot. Until theater companies and license companies rise to the obvious demand, they are the ones choosing not to pay actors and crew their dues. Bootleg away. With respect.