Bon Jovi’s record label has been accused of promoting copies of new album Forever as signed editions when the signatures are fake.

Some fans have stated that the Jon Bon Jovi autographs on the sleeves had been designed working with an autopen approach, which means they had been developed working with a mechanical template and weren’t physically signed by the singer himself.

The band’s record label, UMG, was the topic of angry social media posts right after some who’d bought autographed editions in North America looked closely at the signature.

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While the unique editions of Forever do not expense a lot more than the typical ones, some purchasers argued that wasn’t the point, although other folks objected to the reality that the signature appeared on an insert rather than the album itself, and that some versions had been printed against a dark background and had been tricky to see.

“Buyers beware,” wrote 1 fan (by way of 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 stated: “I don’t care if it wasn’t super expensive, it’s the principle of the thing. Disappointing.”

Autograph Live – a web-site that aids collectors determine genuine and fake signatures – contained a thread in which at least six autopen templates had been spotted, every single slightly various but all of them mechanically reproduced.

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Opinions had been divided on no matter whether Bon Jovi himself knew about the scenario, 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 stated. “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 restricted-edition versions – a lot of of which are now on eBay, with the seller possibly unaware that the signature is a print – had been 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 promoting the restricted editions are accepting returns.