‘American Bandstand,’ Slice Of Rock ‘n’ Roll History, Just Doesn’t Have The Rights

“Dick Clark Productions counts among its assets more than 30 years of episodes of ‘American Bandstand,’ the weekly dance show of top hits that usually featured big-name singers performing as well. That would seem to be a potential gold mine of rock ‘n’ roll history, but making money off of it is another story. Although Dick Clark Productions (DCP) owns the shows, it doesn’t own the musical rights to the performances (most of which were lip-synced).”