On May 15 I ordered a personalized autograph on LiveAutographs.com from William Shatner. For $149 I was promised a signed photo with the message “I Love TechCrunch” along with a video recording of the autograph. Today I received an email notification that my autograph will be shipped within 48 hours, and the video above. It took three months, but they came through for me.
So, anyway, the service seems legit. And I can tell that Shatner isn’t just acting – he really does love TechCrunch.
But wait…I also received a second email this evening from a company called Meet And Greet Entertainment with the following message:
Dear Michael
Regarding the above article: Dude, William Shatner Totally Loves TechCrunch
FYI … Interactive Meet And Greet Entertainment (IMAGE) LLC owns the product and business operating system described in the article which is illegally being used by LiveAutographs.com.
LiveAutographs.com signed contracts with IMAGE last year to be an official licensee which they have breached. They are falsely stating that this is their unique concept, while using our intellectual property.
LiveAutographs.com has arrogantly attempted to steal IMAGE intellectual property.
IMAGE has patents pending for the product United States Patent Application: 0060221195 and will be seeking legal remedies.
Thanks for your kind attention
Gary Sohmers
www.meetandgreet.tv
So what’s all the drama about? No idea, and frankly I don’t care all that much. Let ‘em sue each other out of existence for all I care. Just as long as I get my autograph first.
Nice service, along with the nice drama of course
sweeeeeet.
He likes TC?
weird……but cool……anyways I hav\e his autograph too
Errr…they grant patents for video-recording people signing an autograph?
Must have been granted during the DC Circuit’s free-wheeling days, back when any stupid idea was patentable. There’s no way this patent is going to survive a court challenge today.
They weren’t granted a patent. They said it was patent pending, which just means you can predate a patent by up to a year. Provisional Patents don’t actually provide you with legally recognizeable IP, and you can’t due over them. First they have to try and get a patent, then they can sue.
haha! this is cool, I want to order one for myself @ my blog! Once I get $149 that is.
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
What a novel concept.
A personalized autograph with a video to prevent any doubts about the authenticity (as well as having one more collectible)if tha
But here is a challenge. Get Tim Berners Lee to do it. If that is impossible, get the Google founders to do it.
I hope you’ll get your autograph before they both go under.
I say if you hold a patent but don’t produce any sustainable works through it, then you should have to fight a bear.
Yeah, William Shatner is a good start. Tim Berners Lee would be getting there. But Felicia Day? She’s the one. And Paris Hilton (natch).
Shatner loves Noobindex more http://www.noob...file.php?id=115 (his profile page)
Mike,
This is so cool. I gotta get this for some buddies of mine. Sweet!
I gotta get Shatner on my TV show, for sure!
Captain Kirk is now Captain Crunch.
Love the roving eyes in the video – he wasnt reading at all.
I’ve gotta do this! $149 well spent!
Denny Crane
Hahaha; that’s amazing – money WELL spent!
How much for Phelps autograph?
its free, just mail him, look at the bottom of his site:
http://www.mich...04/english.html
Shatner!!!
Shatner is the man.
Michael, you are losing touch. Where is all the analysis gone? We would admire that quite a lot once. Look at the conclusion you are giving us now.
Denny Crane
OMG i love Shatner!!! (Boston Legal is the best tv series ever created!)
@Mike.
You are slowly turning into Donald Trump and I mean this in the worst way possible. Do you want to become that guy who loves the fact that he has a connection with celebrities and then posts pictures of yourself with them on your office wall? That’s what he is, it’s super lame, and that’s what you are turning into. Keep this stuff off of TC.
*including Ashton Kutcher and his whack companies.
He’s such a hooker.
All hail Shatner.
http://www.stat...se.blogspot.com
Did you know that Arnold Schwartzenegger likes tech crunch too? Look here… http://www.goth...te.blogspot.com
William Shatner loves TechCrunch? Obviously he’s never seen the site. Otherwise he’d say otherwise.
And that is why you read AND comment.
Wait a minute: someone wants a patent for a celebrity signing an autograph on video and then ship the autograph??? Sheesh… given the reputation of teh US Patent Office, I bet he’ll get it… Well, another example why patents should be abolished!
William Shatner just hustled you out of $149. Go Shatner.
$149 is 3 nights at a hotel when you use priceline negotiator.
He’ll be living it up with your cash Arrington.
If I can read this comment, it is indeed, not a hallucination.
sigh, a patent for signing an autograph on video…
oh, and normally, people don’t start threatening legal action until it’s a granted patent, hell, I could submit a patent today for typing in comments with my thumb up my ass and say “patent pending”, it means nothing.
Damn It Mike, he’s an actor not a lawyer…
After some careful analysis of the video you will notice at the 13 second mark that only Shatner’s signature is visible on the autograph. I am guessing, post-shatnerization of the photo, that some intern at Autographs.com actually wrote I LOVE TECHCRUNCH on the photo.
Oh well, at least they didn’t try to give you some photo of Shatner from the TJ Hooker era.
I searched the US Patent Office (www.uspto.gov) for any pending patents from this company and damned if I can find anything. Used the patent number they provided, the president’s name, variations on the company name, and their trademarked process and product names.
I guess it’s possible that they recently filed the application, but good luck getting (and defending) a patent for something this obvious and for which is already in the public domain.
BTW, too bad Scotty is dead. He was the technical guy and would have made for a better TechCrunch autograph than Kirk. Also, I believe the creators of Star Trek may have a case against Twitter for ripping off their idea of the “Captain’s Log”.
That’s nothing. Shatner gave us a “big thumbs up” sort of
http://razorcre...s-up.html#links
Any idea may be patented I guess..
Gotta love the idea of $149 for :14 of effort. That’s more than 250 per hour.
Let’s assume he flubs a couple, slack off every few minutes and only knocks out around 200 per hour.
Nice $30K hourly rate!
Beats shlepping around to conventions and having to deal with scary fanboys.
There is a big difference between coming up with an idea (being paid for that idea, thank you very much) and taking the time and dedication to make an iteration of that idea into a reality. Live Autographs took a seed of an idea, transformed the idea into something that actually works, and spent the time and money to make it happen – kudos!
I have a blank check for William to autograph.
Did you have to write the script or did Shatner just make that bit up at the end?
I don’t know which I like better, you writing it or him making it up.
Either way, very nice.
Assuming he could make 100 such videos in an hour and that the talent gets 50%, we’re talking $7,500 per hour ($15M per year if he made it a 40 hour a week job) — not too shabby, even for a guy who probably doesn’t need the money.
Joe J.
Patent Pending has zero value. Issued patent is another story.
I don’t much care for the guy.
I mean Arrington… Cap’n Kirk is a national treasure.
By National Treasure you of course are referring to his country of Birth — Canada : )
Most. Useless. Service. Ever.
“So what’s all the drama about? No idea, and frankly I don’t care all that much. Let ‘em sue each other out of existence for all I care. Just as long as I get my autograph first.”
Best laugh I’ve had all morning. Thanks!
Randy@FiscalZen
so funny.. thanks
I would buy one if he would sing the message on video.
How much would it cost to buy a Michael Arrington autograph and video?
He doesn’t seem to be listed on liveautographs.com…
“I love TechCrunch” is boring. How about we get him to say “Twitter, we need more power!”
I want to hear him say “Twitter is down…… the street”
FYI something you may be interested in… mega entrepreneur John Assaraf from “The Secret” and author of “The Answer” is holding a free conference call August 20th about how to condition your mind to reach entrepreneurial success. I’d highly suggest listening in. Go here for details and registration…
http://www.John...…..s=hiac2008
Interesting service, though nothing really beats actually being there getting the autograph in person.
As for the whole patent thing, it’s pretty much just BS. You can’t freaking patent videotaping a person signing something. It’s just not an exclusive business model by any means. I mean, sure they can sue, but they have the legal equivalent of a marshmallow gun in court.
live autographs stole my idea that I have a license too. yeah so we don’t have celebrities announced but there coming soon.
Gary Sohmers
Call me 508-788-5474
Now all you need is Chuck Norris and then you’ll have that cred issue solved.