Editor’s note: there has been a lot of movement on this story since it was first published earlier this afternoon. Please ensure you read the edits at the end of the article to get the full picture. We posted these edits as we do not want to alter the original text of the article, but accept that changes and clarifications need to be made when necessary.
In an act of supreme crassness, a British music journalist has placed his promo copy of Imogen Heap‘s upcoming album, Ellipse, on eBay. The hack – readily identifiable from the (unbroken!) seal as Daily Star music critic James Cabooter - has unwittingly ignited a firestorm on Twitter, as Heap and her fans scramble to have the auction taken down – or, failing that, to take control in the best spirit of direct action.
Dedicated fans quickly began bidding for the album in order to return it to Heap. Indeed, the artist even placed a £10,000,000 bid of her own (though this was rapidly vetoed by eBay). At the time of writing, the highest accepted bid stands at £255, with a little over seven hours left to go. It’s a battle between the forces of musical good and evil, and we’re rooting for Imogen!
We did some digging, and it turns out that the seller’s account is full of promo copies for sale, most of them still sealed. Given that we still get a little giddy and excited when we receive promo CDs, we think this implies a certain moral ambivalence. Our advice: take the auction down, apologise to Imogen, and stop flogging PR discs on the internet.
Whatever happened to journalistic ethics?
- EDIT (14:10) – I have just sent the following email to Playlist, the section of the Star that James Cabooter works for. I will let you know if and when I get a reply.
Subject: Imogen Heap album leak
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:03:48 +0100
From: Marcus Kernohan
To: playlist@dailystar.co.ukDear sir,
Will you be investigating how a sealed promo copy of an as-yet unreleased album (“Ellipse” by Imogen Heap), complete with the sticker marking it for James Cabooter and the Daily Star, came to end up on eBay, in this listing? If Mr. Cabooter is the seller, will you be encouraging him to take the auction down? And if Mr. Cabooter is not the seller, can we expect an explanation of how a promo disc with his name on it ended up in the hands of the seller?
Sincerely,
Marcus Kernohan
- EDIT (14:45) - Tom Savage, the Star‘s Deputy Night News Editor, has “promised to look into it”. Meanwhile, Cabooter himself is believed to have responded to the accusations:
“I have been made aware of the situation, and can confirm that it is not me, but somebody stealing my promos. Management are in the process of removing it, I believe.” (see this tweet, and this one)
If this is proven to be true, then we are of course willing to apologise. However, we must confess a certain level of skepticism. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story.
- FINAL EDIT (18:00) – It looks like we need to wrap this story up with a mea culpa. The item has now been removed from eBay. The Daily Star have confirmed that James Cabooter was not involved in the album’s sale, and that the seller’s account is not under his control. Their investigation is ongoing, and we look forward to hearing the result. We’d like to apologise for our hasty judgements – it seems were were wrong. – Ed.
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Marcus Kernohan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Stereokill.net. Email him at 
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AMEN TO THIS!!! After all the work immi put into this. This guy should lose his job!!!!!!!
Hahahaha! Good! I’m glad this has been published! I just bid up to £8000 but then it stopped me from bidding. This sort of thing should not be tolerated. Nice to play some childish pranks in order to annoy a money hungry scum bag.
What a bastard, this guy is not gonna know what hit him when this is all over. Well done Imogen! Don’t back down.
Still sealed. I would like to read his review on the album
. He is a disgrace.
thanks for letting us know who he is – I couldn’t work it out from the starred-out version, cos I’ve never bought the Daily Star, and can’t imagine their music ‘critic’ offering any opinion I’d value, along side the pictures of boobs and stories targeted at people with a reading age of 7…
Still, at least we now know the kind of personal ethics that drive the scum bags who work there. Let’s hope Ebay do the right thing and pull the auction…
Such a moron. These are exactly the types of people who are ruining the value of music in the modern age. I hope this destroys any credibility Cabooter ever had as a music journo. I’m also happy he didn’t have the intelligence to cover up his identity. Hopefully he’ll never get a promo sent to him again. I hope this gets written about extensively in days to come.
Excellent detective work! I felt I couldn’t tweet his name but I can’t be snapped at it if it wasn’t me now can I?! He clearly didn’t even LOOK at the promo no matter listen to it. Leaving his name on like that. So BUSTED.
I have posted this to my facebook along with a link to the eBay listing. I have lots of friends who are fans of yours, Imogen. They’ll be happy to help!! Some of them a journalists themselves albeit for UK guitar magazines.
I cannot believe the audacity of this loser.
I can’t understand why ebay hasn’t taken it down yet.
Awesome work, Imogen. Have been reading your tweets about it, and I fully support you.
Can’t wait to buy a legal, non-promo version of Ellipse!
This is not cool. I’m assuming that nobody who has responded indignantly has ever downloaded illegal mp3s, of course.
Maybe so, but there’s something very cynical about a journalist using a privilege of the trade to turn a profit. That’s what people object to.
Hi Marcus, I’ve just been pointed in the direction of this discussion. I can confirm that James Cabooter is NOT responsible for the album being on eBay.
Exactly how the album did come to be for sale is urgently being investigated.
I hope that clears things up at least as far as James’s involvement in the issue.
Cheers,
Tom Savage,
Daily Star
The bidding still continues. 4 hrs left. This James Cabooter should be in jail now!
Respect for your rapid and successful investigation.
To me the involvement of James ???ooter is still suspicious and I’m (again) vexed by eBay’s policy of non-interference. I know at least five persons who reported the offer being breach of copyright but they didn’t react within the last 14 hours.
Finally the item has been taken off eBay.
Glad to see official confirmation from the Daily Star that Cabooter is not the seller. Clearly then the item must have been stolen – as Cabooter claimed. As a responsible newspaper (!) it is therefore the duty of the Daily Star (and Cabooter) to report the theft to the Police. Who will then be able to order Ebay to identify the would-be seller, and charge him or her with theft. If, of course, it turns out that anyone has been telling porkies, the Police could charge them with wasting police time instead…..
All’s well that ends well? Maybe it’s better not to dig deeper… but there are still questions open.
At last it was pleasing to seeing Immi’s fans spontaneously supporting her, I enjoyed bidding £5,000 for a CD and we all have a good reason to think about illegal downloads and “leaking” albums again.
Hi James Cabooter here, my ears have been burning. I can happily confirm this is nothing to do with me. First I heard about it was this morning thanks to a barrage of abusive emails.
I’ve been in contact with eBay, Sony and Imogen’s various contacts and rest assured the item is now off eBay.
Unfortunately our post is often intercepted by people and this is not the first time it has happened to a member of our staff.
I’ll be doing my best to find out who stole the disc and looking forward to actually hearing the album myself. I’d appreciate if you could spread the word to salvage my what remains of my reputation.
many thanks
James Cabooter
I think this news has been absolutely atrocious! Whether or not Mr. Cabooter was the culprit, he should know better than to leave these things lying around for people TO steal. Bring them home, lock them in your desk, but don’t leave them for the random thief to drool over. I wish I could have participated in the fan support, but I was sadly no where near a computer at the time. Congrats Immi for winning this challenge and know that your fans will always come to the rescue!
The removal of the item from Ebay by no means resolves the issue. If the Star/Cabooter version of the story is true, then some unknown dishonest person still has their hands on a valuable piece of commercial property, with the potential for a serious breach of Copyright. I repeat my point that it is their duty to report the matter to the police. If they fail to do so, we can all draw our own inferences. Incidentally, it is an extraordinary admission by a journalist of a national newspaper (OK, I’m using the term loosely), that ‘our post is often intercepted by people’. Really? What has the Editor of the Star done about this? As they say in the Street of Shame, ‘I think we should be told’.
Well … the daily star should a) Find out how there mail is intercepted b) Tell teh police about the theft/interception c) The police should get in contact with ebay and demand the name address of the seller and do him for theft….. Also what about the other poor artists whos promos are still on sale…. the same must apply to there album promos. Im so glad us fans of Immi emailed flamed and ranted at every one we could in connection with this scummbag on ebay…. yea the power of the tintanet
To: Tom Savage & James Cabooter, Daily Star
re: quote: “Unfortunately our post is often intercepted by people and this is not the first time it has happened to a member of our staff.”
How totally LAME! What a weak, unacceptible excuse! Come on guys, do you REALLY expect anyone to believe that you have have a long-term, chronic mail-theft problem, and yet you have taken NO EFFECTIVE STEPS TO STOP IT? So, your excuse for how this has happened is that either you are so cavalier about the theft of your mail that you could care less (offering a convenient excuse when needed), or it is because you all are so incompetent that you can’t figure out how to install a locking postal box and some basic security measures.
I really can’t wait to hear what lame defense you offer. Regardless of whether or not Mr. Cabooter placed the CD online, your culpability in this whole matter is without question. Those individuals mentioned in the header of this message should be treated with a high degree of suspicion, and should be pursued by the legitimate music industry with as much or more vigor as they exhibit when they pursue 12 year olds downloading bootlegged MP3′s! HERE is the true crime!
John Stinemire: I come bearing half-assed threats, not “lame defenses”. If I were you I’d have a quick refresher course on libel law before you start telling people to be suspicious of me, labeling me culpable for a theft or branding me incompetent. The law applies just as much in Maryland 21666 as it does in London.
For the record: The thefts are being taken very seriously and will be dealt with appropriately. But you’re not going to get a blow-by-blow account of any investigation and who or what it involves as that would make it very difficult to actually catch the person or people responsible for this – something we ALL want.
Brusque words are said here!
Mr. John Stinemire might learn that it’s not necessary to be offending when telling the truth even though I understand his outrage about the definitely lame excuse.
Mr. Tom Savage should be aware of throwing stones while living in a glass house. The first I expected to hear from him, Mr. James Cabooter and any other representative of the Daily Star are sincere words of excuse for this incident! Regardless of the circumstances, the promo copy that were in their custody was offered for sale on eBay. Every responsible adult person would apologize to Imogen Heap for the excitement. This is still to be done…
to Mr Tom Savage
Quote “you’re not going to get a blow-by-blow account of any investigation and who or what it involves ” what is difficult about it… get the police involved to get in touch with ebay… find the seller… Prosecute him/her and clear your name…. a no-brainer there if the person is connected with your newspaper not hard to trace back to the person who started the theft, also fight for the poor sods who have there promo albums still on sale on eBay. If… and I say if the person is connected with your newspaper (cough) sack him/her. Then justice can be seen to be done… but don’t hide behind (were nor going to tell you) because… the fans of Immi and music rights are going to find out the truth… believe me.
“For the record: The thefts are being taken very seriously and will be dealt with appropriately.”
Good. Like other ‘red top’ newspapers, the Star is very keen on the prosecution and punishment of criminals, which includes thieves. Either the thief is somewhere in the postal service, or somewhere in the Star’s offices. Either way, the police should be informed immediately, because only the police have the necessary powers to pursue the evidence in the most effective (and possibly the only) way, by tracing the chain of transactions back from Ebay. Does Tom Savage accept this? If so, what is he doing about it?
Listen, Dieter, I don’t speak for the paper when I say this, but really don’t think anyone from the Star has anything to apologise for.
If someone posted you an album and it never arrived, would YOU apologise? No, and nor should you!
As far as I can see James has acted totally professionally through all of this (and inspite of some strong words of provocation used against him). As soon as he was made aware that this theft had occured he did everything he could to stop the alleged thief from selling the album.
Anyway, this whole thing is getting bizarre so I’m off. Hope you all like the album when it finally comes out.
Tom
DavidB and NorthernLad: from where I’m sat getting the police involved would be the very least we should be doing. Also working with eBay and the music industry. I’m sure we’ll be doing all those things. As I said, it’s being investigated.
To Tom Savage
quote “DavidB and NorthernLad: from where I’m sat getting the police involved would be the very least we should be doing. Also working with eBay and the music industry. I’m sure we’ll be doing all those things. As I said, it’s being investigated”
Good… i hope you catch the bugger… and please keep us upto date if the investigation is successful…. If as you said this was an interception then your paper and james were wrongly accused…. so if the culprit is caught… let us know so we can all apolgise to you an james and thankyou for doing the right thing.
I hope it gets to the truth.
IANAL, but there are no laws in the US or UK that forbid the sale of items that were manufactured with authorisation from the copyright holder. The courts have yet to rule on whether a promotional CD, made by the record label, is considered to be an “authorised” copy, but I would argue that it’s not logically possible for a copyright holder to make an unauthorised copy of their own material.
eBay does not prohibit the sale of promotional items either. They only take down these listings if the copyright owner files a complaint under eBay’s Verified Rights Owner Programme, which is intended to prevent the sale of unauthorised items.
The sale of promotional copies prior to the release date could cause an early leak, but there are also people like DJs who have legit reasons to buy the promos (i.e. if the record company did not send them one). In the case of a popular artist like Imogen Heap, many fans want to buy them too. If a fan wants to spend a few thousand to own a rare promo and hear the album early, I say let them.
Stealing a promo copy from the mailbox of a reviewer is obviously illegal, though. When that happens, it’s crucial to investigate it, since there’s a much higher probability of a leak when it’s in the hands of an anonymous thief.
I feel for James Carbooter here. I am a former music journalist who has regularly been aware of my publishers and editors intercepting my own post and claiming it as their own, doing god knows what with it. When you’re a freelance contirbutor who is not always in the offficial office, this problem becomes especially bad, editors almost seem to think it’s their right to take your post and treat it as if it were their own. Whether this is what happened in this case, I don’t know. But very few journalists would be stupid enough to sell a watermarked CD with their own name on it, it’s asking for trouble.
I think the problem here resides in two forms:
1) The naming of a guilty party when, to be fair, ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
It didn’t help that the seal on the promotional CD was unbroken and part of the recipient’s name is shown quite clearly on the images on the ebay listing. I know this is not in the same league as Matthew Wright and John Leslie saga a few years ago but once a name is disclosed, full public scrutiny follows; when the named party has not right of reply and because of the uproar, what they do say in defence is lost in the roar of the mob.
2) Why the outrage?
This one I had to think about. Internet piracy is as prevalent as it ever has been and this is how it happens, promotional copies go wandering and appear online within a heartbeat. It’s almost as if the old music world is clashing with the new one, where the battleground is the internet and the blood being spilt is effectively people’s careers. By that, I mean – and this is why I understand the outrage – people such as Imogen Heap, Thomas Dolby… who do run their careers on their own. It is the livelihood of the artists that is at stake. The fact that two years has gone into this moment, I can understand why Imogen would be a little pissed right now – just to let that momentum go away in the blink of an eye because a promotional CD ended up online.
I’m been amazed by the outpour of support by Imogen’s fans over the last 48 hours, to which I actually feel proud to be one. However, as Neil before stated, there are no laws banning the sale of promotional items. I’ve bought them before myself. But I also understand the frustration, from a creative point of view, when all the hard work has gone into making something fuelled by an emotional investment and it potentially gets taken away by someone. I suppose, for want of a trite metaphor, it’s like spending two years training for the marathon at the olympics and when it comes to the day of the race, you’re the one winning and you can see the finishing line… only to be shot at point blank range by the guy holding the finishing tape.
Maybe this is another area that needs to change within the music industry. Old school methods of promotion that mix with a high-tech world. How else are you going to get people to review your new albums? I’ve mentioned it to one or two bands over the past few years – is it possible to use the same encryption software that comes with programmes you find on Computer Magazine CDs? So that if the internet is flooded by MP3s of album that has yet to be released, they can only be opened for 30 days? I’d hate for artists to go down the Marillion route of handing their albums out free of charge.
Actually, what’s intrigued me is the number of fans of artists who do want proper hard copies of the albums. I can and know how to find albums online (ahem) free of charge, which is good given that I have a very wide taste in of music; however (your Honour), I do pride myself on the fact that I do buy them when I see them. Which is a pain when record companies do not keep backfilling the catalogue of every artist they’ve ever signed. And when an artist I like is about to release a new album, I do cringe over the possibility that that album could be online way before it ever gets released. The new Simple Minds (sorry, I’m the 34! But that opening track Moscow Underground is superb!), Prefab Sprout’s new one in September… it’s the emotional investment in the providing from the artist’s point of view and that child-like Christmas expectation that the fan has that’s at stake.
I used to know someone who worked in local radio and it was a regular occurrence that there would be piles of promotional cds (mainly for competitions) lying about or sat in people’s desk drawers, only for other presenters, station staff, friends of employees of the station who would be visiting to go “thank you very much”. Admittedly, we’re not talking the big artists here. The point being, it is so easily done. And these promotional items are given away free (at the artist’s expense, need we forget). It’s that hinterland between breach of trust, that the recipient will be kind enough to use the gift with the intent it was given, and to avert the potention (legal) breach of copyright. It’s not necessarily the journalist’s fault, or the ebay seller’s fault, but the person who rips it onto their computer for their own needs. Music is easily shared these days – either by illicit or complicit means.
As has already been noted, the sale of the promotional CD does not break ebay rules and the question as to whether it is an authorised copy will rumble on. They key fact here is that The Daily Star assert this item has been stolen either from their premises, or has been intercepted in carriage. Either way, the key issue here is to identify and prosecute the thief. The only way that will happen is by involving the police. At the very least they will be able to identify the Ebay account holder who may or may not be the thief, but who at the very least is guilty of handling stolen goods.
I really hope The Daily Star fully engage with the relevant authorities and injured parties in the matter to help identify the true guilty parties.
ho ho,
james car booter
^ Best thing anyone’s said on this page.
The levels of naivety in the comments on this story are staggering.
1. If you want to find out who was selling the CD, e-bay have to reveal the details of the account – the feedback on the account shows the person behind it is a serial seller of promos
2. Ms Heap (or her company) sent out a free copy (probably one of many) to encourage a review. The only way to stop promos from being sold on is not to issue them. Then you’re relying on journalists actually going out and buying an album and reviewing it after it’s been released.
3. Promos (other than those by “major” artists) are, in the main, worthless items by the very fact they are issued for free to journaloists and radio stations – I was in Manchester recently and at Vinyl exchange they have entire sections of 100s of promo CD albums on slae for just 50p each – obviously local DJs, radio stations and journos are offloading piles of unwanted unsolicited CDs for pennies.
Botom line, get over it…
lmao @ donnie mcdonald