Guest 999, I suggest you search this forum for "Bulmer" - be warned, though, you'll need a few hours.

In a nutshell, while many people believe he is acting unfairly, he is seems to be acting legally. He owns the rights to a considerable number of recordings, many of which are considered to be classics, which he bought when the original record company went broke. For reasons no one can understand, despite considerable demand for many of these records, he refuses to release them. Sometimes he will sell them individually on CD-R, but they are not on general release.

As for "ripping off" the artists, the problem here seems to be that the original contracts may be deficient. Even where he sells CD-Rs, if my understanding is correct the artists are not entitled to receive royalties. I also understand he has refused requests by the artists to buy back the rights to their own recordings.

Perhaps the artists themselves were naive in agreeing to these contracts, but remember that they were dealing with people they knew and trusted. It was only when the original company folded and the rights were bought by Bulmer that the problems arose.