To the degree that tape trading does take place, established principles of fair practice mandate that no money changes hands. This is generally considered to confer a quasi-legitimacy to the the transaction, even where the artist has explicitly denied the necessary legitimating permissions. There is a currency of exchange within the transaction and this does not belong to the taper but, where the performer has given permission, the transaction is legitimate.
Where money (or barter) is involved, this is simply theft. In that part of the performance world which enters the domain of business, this is stealing from the fruit of a performer's working. This is not a complex operation, worthy of detailed analysis & defence. It is unjustifiable and immoral, and in the business world it is also illegal. As such, it is properly subject to legal sanction.
Legitimate tape swappers are equally disturbed by money exchanges: this undermines the ethics of their world as well.>
"The science is in knowing, the art in perceiving."
