Any performance (or book, for that matter) can be published or republished legally if you purchase the right to do so. Pirate labels publish without having done this, and so are illegal.

Under certain conditions, the right to publish an item is free for all. Items in this category are said to be in the public domain. Which items belong in which group has varied from time to time and from country to country.

In the case of the Eroica, there are two kinds of pirates. The first are copies of commercial releases, usually transfers from LPs (most 78s are now in the public domain). The second are live performances, either taped off the air or from broadcaster archives, which were never intended for general release and for which permission to publish has not been granted.

Pirate recordings are often omitted from discographies. For a long time I resisted adding them to my project, on these grounds:

1. Some are simply copies of legitimate issues.
2. It is hard to be certain of their contents, or sometimes even of their existence. (Pirate labels are notorious for incorrect attributions.)
3. They are difficult to find, so research based on them is not easily verified.
4. They are illegal, so demand for them should not be stimulated

Against this, I note:

1. Nearly all 'unofficial' performances issued legally were at first circulated privately.
2. Musically (and therefore musicologically), they are often as valuable as 'legitimate' releases.
3. Since listing all publications is not a goal, one can ignore those that are copied from legitimate CDs, or (in the case of those based on LPs) simply delist pirates when a legal issue appears.

In the end, I have come to the conclusion that in a musicological context the legal-illegal distinction is irrelevant. I will do my best to determine the authenticity of such performances as I can obtain, and I am happy to share my copies with those who wish to challenge or extend my research.

Here are the labels associated with this material whose productions I have actually heard. To the best of my knowledge, all of these companies (except the CD-R producers) are long out of business: