Meet the counterfeit cops who police parking lots

This week's feature story, "Phish Story," shines a light on the music bootlegging world, specifically those tasked with making sure a band's not getting ripped off in the parking lot outside its shows, by those who sell counterfeit merch. It's supposed to be a civil matter, but as a video...

By Westword Staff

September 27, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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This week's feature story, "Phish Story," shines a light on the music bootlegging world, specifically those tasked with making sure a band's not getting ripped off in the parking lot outside its shows, by those who sell counterfeit merch.

It's supposed to be a civil matter, but as a video that went viral after a September 2, 2011 Phish concert shows, some say those hired for bootleg abatement take the job too far.

Read that story here: "Phish Story: A fight on Shakedown Street left one man in stitches and another fearing for his family."

Also be sure to read these sidebars for more on the counterfeit merchandising world:

- Gruesome fight in parking lot at Phish show captured on video, inspires Facebook outrage

- View the parking lot fight from another angle (video)

- So what happens to all that seized bootleg merchandise? Some of it goes to Hurricane Katrina victims

- View examples of bootlegged Phish merchandise presented to courts

- View the injunctions that keep Phish bootleggers at bay

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