Bon Jovi’s record label has been accused of selling copies of new album Forever as signed editions when the signatures are fake.
Some fans have said that the Jon Bon Jovi autographs on the sleeves were created using an autopen technique, meaning they were produced using a mechanical template and weren’t physically signed by the singer himself.
The band’s record label, UMG, was the subject of angry social media posts after some who’d purchased autographed editions in North America looked closely at the signature.
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While the special editions of Forever don’t cost more than the standard ones, some buyers argued that wasn’t the point, while others objected to the fact that the signature appeared on an insert rather than the album itself, and that some versions were printed against a dark background and were difficult to see.
“Buyers beware,” wrote one fan (via the Daily Mail). “Bon Jovi store is sending out autopen signatures. Talk Shop Live is also sending out the same ones. The UK signatures appear to be hand signed.”
Another wrote: “Dear UMG, It’s costing you a lot of money to lie about your products. How many people are getting a refund on this? I know, your time is so precious, but lying to fans ain’t the win. Nobody wants autopenned.”
Another said: “I don’t care if it wasn’t super expensive, it’s the principle of the thing. Disappointing.”
Autograph Live – a website that helps collectors identify real and fake signatures – contained a thread in which at least six autopen templates had been spotted, each slightly different but all of them mechanically reproduced.
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Opinions were divided on whether Bon Jovi himself knew about the situation, with some noting that the singer had been photographed adding signatures to albums.
“Jon… your fans don’t want to believe that you had knowledge that your people knowingly sent out fake autographs of yours to boost record sales,” a supporter said. “We would like to hear it from you and maybe have the shot at legit signatures since it was under that premise these were purchased.”
Another observed that the limited-edition versions – many of which are now on eBay, with the seller perhaps unaware that the signature is a print – were on sale “for a very long time,” and theorized: “[T]hey kept adding more once sold out… Would not surprise me one bit if somebody in the Jovi camp said, ‘Hey, let’s sell more with an autopen machine! I guess we see the greediness in today’s world.”
It was also reported that the outlets selling the limited editions are accepting returns.
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Gallery Credit: Anthony Kuzminski