LimeWire Music Blog

Whoa, this is totally harsh, brah! Recently reunited jam band Phish is suing its fans for bootlegging its shows and selling unlicensed merch. The group, which kicks off its first tour in five years this Friday at Virginia’s Hampton Coliseum, is seeking an injunction requiring police to seize any unlicensed Phish merchandise sold outside their shows. And that’s not all. They’re also seeking damages from unidentified companies and individuals. According to the band’s legal complaint, “Because they are generally nomadic individuals without a business
premises or other connection to the area, Bootleggers often flee the
area permanently once they have sold Bootleg Merchandise.”

Now, my memory of the days when Jerry Garcia was still alive are limited. But didn’t the world’s greatest (remember, these things are relative) jam band exist in some sort of harmony with the strange army of merchants who sold bootlegs and other Grateful Dead apparel in the parking lots outside their gigs? Wasn’t it all part of the traveling carnival that attracted fans to Deadhead culture in the first place? And what would this girl I knew in high school—who had about 50 taped Grateful Dead bootlegs—have to say about Phish’s lawsuit?