Special thanks to the United States Patent Office

Clear Channel Limits Live CDs

...in a move expected to severely limit the industry, Clear Channel Entertainment has bought the patent from the technology's inventors and now claims to own the exclusive right to sell concert CDs after shows. The company, which is the biggest concert promoter in the world, says the patent covers its 130 venues along with every other venue in the country.

"We want to be artist-friendly," says Steve Simon, a Clear Channel executive vice president and the director of Instant Live. "But it is a business, and it's not going to be 'we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.'"

(From the DNA Lounge. IHNTA.)

GIP!

(I don't usually do this sort of thing, but this is a neat toy.)