Like many other kids in the 1970s, I learned important lessons about the perils of bootlegging and the meaning of authenticity from a two-part episode of What’s Happening!!, when Rerun is caught taping a Doobie Brothers performance in a high school gymnasium: Don’t get mixed up with the criminal syndicates that force teenagers to steal intellectual property; you may not be so fortunate as to have a cane-wielding Jeff “Skunk” Baxter come to your rescue, despite your transgressions and your ingratitude.
I experienced this same thing months ago in a server for a frank ocean leak. The seller was booted for allegedly hawking AI songs for money - but then it was overturned, and it turned out the seller was selling real leaks. But the impression that the leak was AI actually affected how people perceived it - "this is mid because it's AI" - so when it was revealed it was actually real, and not AI, it felt even more disappointing. (It turns out a scrapped demo is often scrapped for a reason!) But it was truly disorienting to witness, and to acknowledge that I had no way by ear of telling if it was real or fake. I was convinced it was real, then convinced it was AI, and then convinced again that it was real. I could not trust my judgement, I only had to trust what was being told to me. Obviously, like you say, it's one thing in the realm of bootlegs, and another in official releases -- but it made me realize that the impression that something is falsified media can affect how you perceive it even after you learn it's real.
I experienced this same thing months ago in a server for a frank ocean leak. The seller was booted for allegedly hawking AI songs for money - but then it was overturned, and it turned out the seller was selling real leaks. But the impression that the leak was AI actually affected how people perceived it - "this is mid because it's AI" - so when it was revealed it was actually real, and not AI, it felt even more disappointing. (It turns out a scrapped demo is often scrapped for a reason!) But it was truly disorienting to witness, and to acknowledge that I had no way by ear of telling if it was real or fake. I was convinced it was real, then convinced it was AI, and then convinced again that it was real. I could not trust my judgement, I only had to trust what was being told to me. Obviously, like you say, it's one thing in the realm of bootlegs, and another in official releases -- but it made me realize that the impression that something is falsified media can affect how you perceive it even after you learn it's real.