Floyd on DVD

[GuitarGeek]

I would guess that it's more about the original broadcasters owning rights.

Yeah, but if you had the rights to release something with the name "Pink Floyd" on it, especially something as good as the KQED video or the 70/71 BBC concerts, would you hesitate to pull the trigger?

Certainly, the BBC hasn't been shy about putting out official releases of the various recordings from their archives by other artists, so surely they'd be more than happy to "exploit" Pink Floyd fans by offering up perfect quality CD's of the two Paris Cinema concerts.

Likewise for the KQED video, I can't imagine anyone who has the legal right to do as they please with something like that, not putting it out. It's Dark Side Of The Moon, but I'm sure big money could still be made from something like KQED, from all the people who think the band "sold out" on DSOTM.

As I said, I still maintain the catch has to be someone who has veto power, ie either someone within the band, or perhaps EMI.

[GuitarGeek]

Except that the original broadcaster is KQED, the public TV station in San Francisco and they are very much still around. I may be wrong but it's not like they pull that tape out and re-broadcast it every pledge drive. In fact, I can't recall them *ever* showing it in the 30 years I've been living in the Bay Area. Which to me says it's the band that's preventing it (Floyd probably wants mega-bucks for the broadcast rights.)

I posted this when it happened, but a couple years ago, a couple clips from the KQED video did turn up, AT&T U-Verse's...oh, I don't know what it's called, but they have the "interactive" features, where you can play music videos and such. For awhile, one of the options was a pair of Pink Floyd video compilations. Two of the clips shown were Grantchester Meadow and I think Cymbaline. Perfect picture and sound (certainly better than any copies I've seen in the past), so the master tapes must still be intact somewhere. Now, why those two songs get picked out and presented in such an obscure fashion, I couldn't tell you. Maybe two songs was all AT&T were willing to pay for.

[Casey]

If these items were released, whoever has control would make a profit. So it's a no-brainer, right? So it should happen, right? Unless someone believes an even greater profit can be made. I'm all in fair of the capitalistic, free-market system but how rich does one need to be?

[ronmac]

Except that the original broadcaster is KQED, the public TV station in San Francisco and they are very much still around. I may be wrong but it's not like they pull that tape out and re-broadcast it every pledge drive. In fact, I can't recall them *ever* showing it in the 30 years I've been living in the Bay Area. Which to me says it's the band that's preventing it (Floyd probably wants mega-bucks for the broadcast rights.)

Yeah, but if you had the rights to release something with the name "Pink Floyd" on it, especially something as good as the KQED video or the 70/71 BBC concerts, would you hesitate to pull the trigger?

Certainly, the BBC hasn't been shy about putting out official releases of the various recordings from their archives by other artists, so surely they'd be more than happy to "exploit" Pink Floyd fans by offering up perfect quality CD's of the two Paris Cinema concerts.

Likewise for the KQED video, I can't imagine anyone who has the legal right to do as they please with something like that, not putting it out. It's Dark Side Of The Moon, but I'm sure big money could still be made from something like KQED, from all the people who think the band "sold out" on DSOTM.

As I said, I still maintain the catch has to be someone who has veto power, ie either someone within the band, or perhaps EMI.

You guys are missing my point. The point I'm trying to make is that the rights are probably shared by both the band and the original broadcaster, which tends to create problems. This is similar to Hendrix's great Royal Albert Hall show from '69. It's, IMO, one of the best ever performances by the Experience. It was filmed for theatrical release and has yet to see the light of day on DVD or officially sanctioned CD, because of the dispute over the copyrights.