[3] In 2001, Hill and Devereux parted ways due to creative differences and the trademark, name and usage rights of 'Artful Dodger' were purchased by Blessed Records.
[3] Few contact hours meant that he had plenty of time on his hands, so he started a recording studio with fellow student and bandmate from the jazz-funk band, Neil Kerr.
[3] In 1997, Hill and Devereux joined forces to create bootleg editions of tracks including "Dreams" by Gabrielle, "You're Not Alone" by Olive, and "If You Love Me" by Brownstone, releasing these under the Artful Dodger moniker, under Fagin Records.
[7][3] Both Artful Dodger and Fagin were intended to be disposable aliases adopted to protect their identities and shield them from potential lawsuits from record companies, which might be inclined to pursue them for their unauthorised sampling of other artists' work.
[8] Names such as Dick Turpin and Robin Hood were under consideration, but Artful Dodger held greater appeal due its association with the city of London; regarded by many as the capital of the garage sound.
[2][3][8] Speaking of their use of 2-step rhythms, Hill commented that it emerged from the fact that he was bored with the four to the floor structure of house music,[2] while also being influenced by R&B, and the work of Ramsey & Fen, as well as Tina Moore's "Never Gonna Let You Go".
Fatigued from an onerous tour schedule, having 'strained' relationships with certain colleagues, wanting to focus more on a behind-the-scenes music industry role as producer, and with a view towards doing more work with Craig David, Mark Hill left Artful Dodger, and Devereux returned, before leaving once again.
[14] The transfer of the 'Artful Dodger' moniker has been the source of a great deal of speculation and critical commentary, expressed on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and has been explained by Hill and Devereux variously across numerous interviews.
[2][6][10][14][15] The common theme articulated in these interviews is that the duo express their anger and frustration over the fact that two different people, only one of which had any, albeit limited and 'guest status' involvement in the creation of the Artful Dodger music, were seemingly able to achieve exclusive control over the Artful Dodger name, play at events, participate in interviews with journalists who were apparently unaware that the constitution of the group had changed,[16] and most disconcertingly, appeared to take credit for the music that had made the original duo famous.
[17] In a 2011 interview with iFILM London, DJ Dave Low named Mark Hill as a current, but apparently dormant member of Artful Dodger.
[18] According to public records provided by the Intellectual Property Office - UK [IPO], there was no trademark of the terms 'The Artful Dodger' under the stipulated classes 9, 16, 25, 28, 41 prior to it being assigned to Mark Hill, as a consequence of a process initiated on 7 July 2001.
[3] This version of events is somewhat substantiated by public records provided by the Intellectual Property Office - UK, which show that the 'Artful Dodger' name was transferred from Mark Hill to Pete Devereux on 27 January 2003.
[21] The Wayback Machine internet archive offers some evidence that Artful Dodger may have been a trio at some stage, with Pete Devereux appearing alongside DJ Dave Low and an unknown man on the main page of the group's website.[speculation?
[24] Mark Hill has emphasised that he does not endorse this incarnation of Artful Dodger, and has communicated that he is sceptical of the inclusion of MC Alistair, dismissing it as an attempt by 'the label' to 'add legitimacy'.
[3] In the immediate aftermath of the departure of Pete Devereux in July 2001,[1] Billboard reported that it was anticipated that Mark Hill would complete a sophomore Artful Dodger album for release in the summer of 2002; this however never eventuated.