Clear Channel kills live CDs
p2pnet.net News:- "DiscLive offers fans the ultimate opportunity: a chance to take home the show you experienced on CD, just minutes afterward. No longer do you have to suffer through poor quality and outrageous prices to remember the shows you attended."
It’s part of the pitch on DiscLive’s website here and it goes on, "The hottest ticket of the spring, the Pixies are reuniting and DiscLive will be there. Each night throughout the American and Canadian tour this April, DiscLive will produce only 1,000 individually numbered, foil-stamped, limited edition copies of each concert."
Neat idea and, " The recording-and-burning company DiscLive estimated on April 12th that it would gross $500,000 selling live discs this spring alone," says a Rolling Stone story here.
However, the report isn’t to celebrate DiscLive’s success. Rather, it’s to reveal that Clear Channel Entertainment now claims it owns the patent – as well as the exclusive right to sell concert CDs after shows.
"We want to be artist-friendly," Clear Channel executive vp and director of Instant Live is quoted as saying, "But it is a business, and it’s not going to be ‘we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.’"
Artists net about ten dollars for every $20 to $25 concert CD sold, no matter which company they use, the story’s author, Steve Knopper points out, continuing:
"But with Clear Channel pushing to eliminate competition, many fear there will be less money and fewer opportunities to sell live discs. ‘It’s one more step toward massive control and consolidation of Clear Channel’s corporate agenda,’ says String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba, who feuded with Clear Channel last year after promoters blocked the band from using CD-burning equipment."
May 25th, 2004 at 5:27 pm
Clear Channel = Satan
Corporate radio sucks.
May 25th, 2004 at 5:29 pm
So Clear Channel “Claims” to own the rights to all live recording???
Look up Clear Channel’s so called patent on “all” live recording…U.S. Patent No. 6,614,729 (link below). From a “purely legal perspective”, (an oxymoron) Clear Channel would not be granted the right to claim all live recording, no more than they would be granted the right to keep others from speaking or breathing (silent gasp). An impartial jury would never uphold Clear Channel’s so-called free enterprise right to prevent others from getting in the business, but you can bet Clear Channel’s lawyers can rain trouble longer than other startups can tread water. In corporate legal matters, it’s no longer about who’s right or wrong, it’s who can pay their lawyers more and longer…BUT there are occasions when right prevails, but it takes deep thought, conviction and talent, all things large organizations don’t typically have.
cut and paste to browser:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=6,614,729&OS=6,614,729&RS=6,614,729
May 25th, 2004 at 6:24 pm
“Clear Channel Entertainment now claims it owns the patent – as well as the exclusive right to sell concert CDs after shows.”
Clear Channel is no angel in this case (or any other that I can see). If they apply for a patent on selling dog turds with band logos on them at live shows and it is granted, can you blame them? What I want to know is, who are the idiots at the US patent office who are granting these so called patents in the first place? What is wrong with patent law? This is like a grocery store chain patenting grocery bags. All I know is, I’m putting in my patent applications for fire and the wheel TODAY.
May 26th, 2004 at 12:30 am
patents are a violation of human rights
May 26th, 2004 at 4:54 am
RE: “What I want to know is, who are the idiots at the US patent office who are granting these so called patents”
They are lawyers who all work dangerously close with each other…the good ‘ole boys club. U.S. Gov’t patent lawyers who “help” Clear Channel’s lawyers get a patent have a nice job waiting for them when they jump to private enterprise and work for oh let’s say CLEAR CHANNEL!!!
May 26th, 2004 at 11:46 am
I bet the guy who came up with the idea of selling popcorn in movie theatres must be kicking himself.
May 27th, 2004 at 4:52 pm
you took the workds out of my mouth!
May 28th, 2004 at 4:17 am
you obviously need to learn how costly and difficult it is and
the high probability after years of toll to get nawt.