I remember hearing about that idea ages ago but can't think of any specific stories of it actually happening. I had no idea there was a patent on recording a gig and selling it on the day. Seems a bit like patenting the idea of playing a gig and getting people to pay to watch you. That is, patenting a business process. Glad to hear it ripped down. Pity most soundboard recordings sound rubbish, unless the venue is huge or you have a separate mixer for the recording vs. the PA.
I think the next step is for someone to develop artificially intelligent software that can mix recordings from multiple inputs to something that sounds reasonably listenable. It may not replace a good sound engineer, but it'll be better than nothing.
First I heard of it was my brother telling me Howard Jones did it at a small gig at least three years ago. Alas, I can't find a reference for it...
The Pixies were doing it when their reunion first happened, so 2003 or so. (HEY! I'm seeing the Pixies on Saturday!!!!)
I think generally the idea is that you have a full multi-track recording going on during the gig, and indeed somebody does a mix on the fly - including mics set up to get the room ambience/audience noise etc.
If they wanted to patent a particular process for recording a gig live (I dunno, using special software and a specific setup), then maybe that would be acceptable. But just "sell CDs of a live performance straight after a gig" is definitely stupido!
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That's good. I seem to remember that idea being covered in the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG (Rockerboys flogging freshly burnt CDs from the back of the tour van at the end of the concert) - I wonder if that would count as prior art?