The subject of bootlegs is one that often rears its head, both here on the site in the Ask Ginger section, and on The Wildhearts Mailing List.

While some artists prefer not to have material that hasn't been officially sanctioned by themselves out there amongst their followers, Ginger doesn't mind, as long as no one - neither himself or his fans - is getting ripped off.

As far as buying bootlegs, and with CD bootlegs being pretty much a standard these days, we can understand why trading might be difficult for people without their own CD writers. If you are going to buy bootleg CDs, the first thing to remember is that they really shouldn't cost much - the manufacturer pays no artist royalties, there's no record company cut, and no retailer wanting a slice of the pie.

To make a bootleg CD costs, at most, a few pounds, once you've taken into account the disc itself and the ink and paper for the sleeve. Which is why we often stare goggle-eyed at some of the transactions that take place every week on Ebay, with auctions of bootleg discs sometimes reaching upwards of £50.

These discs are usually offered up as "rare", despite there being no such thing when it comes to boots. True, there may not be thousands of copies in circulation like there is with official CDs. But if a recording is unofficial, there's nothing to stop people selling bootlegged bootlegs.

If you must use Ebay for boots, please don't go paying silly money, otherwise you'll be spending way more than you need to (chances are, you won't be getting a great sounding disc for your money either) and the person you're buying from will be profiteering.

Remember: if there's any money at all being made from bootlegs, morally it should be going to the artist.

And finally... If you make and sell (at cost, natch) good quality boots yourself, or if you stumble on some cracking recordings while trading, be courteous and pop some copies in the post to Ginger (you'll find the address on the Contacts page).