Los Angeles, (May 27, 2004)— Recent headlines report that corporate mega giant Clear Channel Entertainment has announced they have purchased a patent making it illegal for any band to record their own live show, and sell that recording day of show at the venue, unless the band pays Clear Channel. Now virtually all performing artists including bands like the Pixies, Billy Idol, and even Bruce Springsteen run the risk that if they record their own shows at any venue in the country, then sell the CD’s that same night, Clear Channel can and will go after the artists and make them pay. Clear Channel’s Instant Live director Steve Simon has made it very clear that, “It is a business, and it's not going to be ‘we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.’”

The “David” to Clear Channel’s “Goliath” is independent live recording label Kufala Recordings. Led by label president, Brady Lahr, an outspoken champion of the ‘indie artist’, Kufala actually stands the most to gain by Clear Channel’s outrageous assertion. Kufala Recordings provides a major loophole for fans and artists who do not want to be manipulated and controlled by Clear Channel Entertainment. Through Kufala, fans can place orders at the venue and the product is delivered within 2 weeks. Kufala’s releases are multi-track live mixes recorded at the show, that have been studio mastered and creatively approved by the artist--most albums are double disc sets and all come in a sleekly designed eco-friendly sleeve, each featuring unique artwork. These high quality ‘authorized bootlegs’ are also available for download on all major music sites from I-tunes to Net Music, an independent digital music distributor.

Lahr explains, “Unlike the Clear Channel model of recording and burning CDs at the venue, we simply record the music, take it back to our studio for a proper mix and master, then ship the live show recordings out to our artist’s fans. Fans place CD orders at the venue before, during and after the show. They know they will be getting a great recording and that the artist has approved the master. They also know that the band actually owns the recording and will be paid for sure. As artists and fans begin to figure out just how evil the Clear Channel patent is, our business will open up even faster.”

Kufala has drawn a fighting line in the sand and is now calling on independent artists and labels as well as artist organizations to challenge Clear Channel’s patent and its grave monopolistic implications in the music industry. Kufala, a “David” among entertainment industry “Goliaths” is now the only label with the ability to give artists a real alternative to Clear Channel. Kufala and other leaders in the music industry believe that the antitrust implications of Clear Channel’s live recording patent are far reaching. “Clear Channel Claims to own the patent but it will most likely be struck down in court at the first law suit. Lawmakers need to take heed because in fact, Clear Channel is really using their monopoly in the market to powerfully restrain trade above and beyond the patent issue,” explains Lahr. The Kufala business model is not directly affected by Clear Channel’s recent patent however Kufala has experienced first hand Clear Channel’s ability to restrain trade when they barred Kufala from recording at one of their venues—a restrain which occurred regardless of the fact that the venue did not have recording capability not to mention that the artist, their major label, and a non Clear Channel affiliate Radio Station all requested Kufala’s Services.

Lahr is making it known loud and “clear” to every label and artist that Kufala offers the definitive alternative to Clear Channel’s claim to a monopoly on live show recordings, with their own ‘Authorized Bootlegs System.’ Jason Pinsky, another principal at Kufala points out, “We may be the little independent guy here but Clear Channel is laying claim to be able to control an artist’s ability to record and sell their music at their own shows. This is the most outrageous example of Clear Channel’s monopoly in the music industry yet, especially since Clear Channel has already taken over all the major outdoor venues and most of the radio stations and related play lists. Next Clear Channel will claim it has a patent on allowing artists to sing in their own showers!”
PLEASE READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE AT
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=67169

Smells like an SCO vs. Linux situation. From what I can tell, Clear Channel has a process patent, which if Kufula can survive the finical burden, be fairly straight forward to prove they are not infringing.

live shows were one of the only ways an artist can actually make money and now the industry (which Clear Channel is clearly a part of) is trying to lock that up. I'm waiting for someone to go after the merchandising the same way

Have to make sure I use Kufala if they are available around here from now on. I am not a huge fan of live recordings but to support this I would be more then happy to fork over the cash.

"Kufala... is now the only label with the ability to give artists a real alternative to Clear Channel."

Really? Sounds rather presumptuous.

If this doesn't give the artists MORE than enough reasons to rebel against their record labels, I don't know what does. Here is yet another avenue that an artist could actually make some money, and now it's been stolen out from under them.

Makes me wanna puke all over Clear Channel. They suck.

"Clear Channel Entertainment has announced they have purchased a patent making it illegal for any band to record their own live show, and sell that recording day of show at the venue"

No way. Has to be more to it than that. That is not patentable. For example the Amazon click patent covers more than is understood by the layperson.

Anybody got a patent number? The article omits that little detail.

are they claiming all live shows or only live shows that they put together?

Here is clear channels patent

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,

How can you patent an "action?" Something described with a verb?

From looking at the patent, it is a device, although the pages for the drawings don't show up. The processes are specific at times, and general in others. Just record live show using seperated equipment. It will take more work, but not infringe on their patent.

Cantido, I think Amazon or EBay was claiming a patent on the "double click" or something a while back.

This just pisses me off. But know what? I don't give a damn. If the dumbass major label artists are stupid enough to let the monopolistic pigs steal not ONLY their recordings, but also the live appearances too... let them suck wind.
Going to a Clear Channel event is just as bad as buying an RIAA recording. The artists are gonna have to learn better someday...

Go INDIE or get what you deserve.

This is a perfectly legal patent. However, there are always ways around patents. A company simply needs to find another way to perform the same actions to produce the product. Whether it is how they record the concert, burn the CD's or edit the tracks. It only requires a small change to effectively do the same thing without infringing on the patent.

Additionally, patent law is not the same as copyright law, at least not yet. Patents are still restricted by time limits. I know that a patent is only good for 7 years, I don't recall if it can be renewed or not. After that it's open for anybody to use. At best Clear Channel only has the monopoly for a short time. More likely is that somebody will come up with another way to do the same thing and that monopoly will evaporate.