Bob Dylan Gets Tangled Up in Book Autograph Controversy - The New York Times

Henry Bernstein has seen Bob Dylan 27 times successful performance and owns 3 items autographed by him: a transcript of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album, a photograph of the vocalist and a “John Wesley Harding” songbook. His favourite opus is “Tangled Up successful Blue.”

So erstwhile Simon & Schuster, Dylan’s publisher, advertised limited-edition, hand-signed copies of the musician’s caller postulation of essays for $600 each, Bernstein was among 900 fans who went for one. Last week, helium received his transcript of “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” Dylan’s archetypal postulation of writings since helium won the Nobel Prize successful Literature successful 2016, with a missive of authenticity signed by Jonathan Karp, the publisher’s main executive.

There was lone 1 problem.

Karp’s signature “looked much legit than Bob’s,” Bernstein said.

Bernstein was 1 of hundreds of fans who sleuthed their mode astir societal media, reaching the decision that the supposedly hand-signed books had not, successful fact, been signed by Dylan.

Instead, galore fans suggested that the “autographed” copies of the publication had been signed by a machine.

Justin Steffman, a nonrecreational authenticator who runs a Facebook radical for collectors, said the autograph was astir apt created by an autopen. The machine, which recreates signatures, is utilized by universities, celebrities and, astir notably, the White House.

Handwritten penmanship usually has a flow, Steffman said. But “with a pen machine, it goes from constituent to point,” helium said, adding that the opening and the extremity points of each changeable use much unit to the page. Dylan’s autograph successful the caller books besides appears to person a “slight shakiness passim the signature,” helium said.

“It does not look similar thing a idiosyncratic signed; it looks similar a copy,” Steffman said.

As orders began arriving past week, Dylan fans began comparing notes online, and it rapidly became wide that thing was amiss, Steffman said. Steffman collected images of astatine slightest 17 signatures that each looked arsenic if they had been created by a machine. Items autographed by Dylan typically merchantability for $1,500 oregon $2,000, helium added.

“They started popping up, everyone received them the aforesaid time and it was instant — we each realized it was an autopen,” Steffman said. “More and much radical shared their copies, and we each enactment it together.”

Steffman said Simon & Schuster’s lawsuit work had primitively refused to contented refunds and had adjacent denounced “online rumors” astir the anticipation that the signature was a fake. Twitter and Reddit users besides chimed in; a chat board organized by a instrumentality encouraged others who had purchased the publication to constitute straight to Karp, the Simon & Schuster main executive. Fans flooded his inbox, including Bernstein, who, similar others, received a idiosyncratic effect from Karp promising a speedy refund.

By Sunday, Simon & Schuster had issued a nationalist connection that offered fewer details but acknowledged that Dylan’s signature had been rendered “in a penned replica form.” The steadfast said it would springiness buyers “an contiguous refund.”

In effect to a petition for much detail, a spokesperson for Simon & Schuster declined to elaborate.

“We acted rapidly to code the situation, took the publication disconnected merchantability and initiated the process of issuing an contiguous and automatic refund to each customers who bought the book,” the spokesman, Adam Rothberg, said successful an email connected Tuesday.

Dylan’s euphony label, Columbia Records, did not respond to a petition for comment.

Dylan is acold from the archetypal personage to beryllium accused of utilizing automated signatures. Fans person taken contented with signatures from Dolly Parton, Brian Wilson, Kenny Loggins and Ozzy Osbourne. Donald H. Rumsfeld, the erstwhile defence secretary, was criticized for using a mechanized signature connected condolence letters to the families of work members who had been killed successful Iraq and Afghanistan.

While questions stay astir the determination to usage an automated autograph successful the Dylan book, fans are assured that Dylan had thing to bash with it.

“I was amazed by the sheer fig they were saying they had — 1,000 copies successful and of itself seems similar a reddish emblem to me,” said Laura Tenschert, who hosts a podcast called “Definitely Dylan.” “I would presume helium has amended things to bash with his time.”

Tenschert described the concern arsenic “messy” but said, “I, personally, would presume Bob Dylan was not progressive successful this.” She pointed to his past of keeping summons income “affordable and accessible” to fans, which, she said, “suggests it’s much important for him to scope his fans.”

There is besides the million-dollar elephant successful the room: Dylan, 81, sold his full recorded euphony catalog to Sony Music for an estimated $200 cardinal this year, and helium sold his songwriting rights to Universal Music successful 2020 for good implicit $300 million.

“To me, it would beryllium precise uncharacteristic to the constituent helium was progressive successful scamming his fans,” Tenschert said. “I don’t deliberation helium needs it.”

Steffman, the authenticator, believes the autograph utilized successful the publication is based connected the pencil signature Dylan uses connected his artwork.