Google Wins Dismissal of Suit Over Digital Books Project

Google Inc.’s (GOOG) project to digitally copy millions of books for online searches doesn’t violate copyright law, a federal judge ruled, dismissing an eight-year-old lawsuit against the largest search-engine company.

Google Books provides a public benefit and is a fair use of copyrighted material, Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan ruled today. The project, which has scanned more than 20 million books so far, doesn’t harm authors or inventors of original works, Chin said.




“Google Books provides significant public benefits,” Chin wrote. “It advances the progress of the arts and sciences, while maintaining respectful consideration for the rights of authors and other creative individuals, and without adversely impacting the rights of copyright holders.”

Chin’s decision comes more than two years after he rejected a proposed $125 million settlement in the case filed by The Authors Guild, which represents writers. The group sued in 2005 alleging that Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, infringed copyrights by scanning and indexing books without writers’ permission.

Paul Aiken, the Authors Guild’s executive director, said in a statement today that the ruling is a “fundamental challenge” to copyrights and that his group plans to appeal.
Fair Use

“Google made unauthorized digital editions of nearly all of the world’s valuable copyright-protected literature and profits from displaying those works,” Aiken said. “In our view, such mass digitization and exploitation far exceeds the bounds of the fair use defense.”

If upheld on appeal, the decision may help Google retain its leadership in Internet searching, which has allowed it to become the world’s largest online advertiser. Google has more than 70 percent of the ad revenue tied to online searches in the U.S., according to researcher EMarketer Inc.

“This is a huge victory for Google, which had previously tried to resolve legal issues regardingGoogle Books by class action settlement,” Mark P. McKenna, a law professor specializing in intellectual property at the University of Notre Dame, said in an e-mail today. “This decision vindicates Google’s project entirely on fair use grounds, making unnecessary the elaborate structure the parties had proposed for compensation.”
Important Tool

Google Books digitizes books and transforms expressive text into a comprehensive word index that helps researchers and others find books, Chin, an appeals judge sitting in U.S. District Court, said in his opinion.

The project has become an important tool for libraries because it makes millions of books searchable by words and phrases, he said.

“Google Books does not supersede or supplant books because it is not a tool to be used to read books,” the judge wrote. “Instead, it adds value to the original.”

Google doesn’t sell the scans it makes of books or sell the snippets of books it displays although the company does benefit from users drawn to the site, Chin wrote. Writers also benefit because the scanning project could enhance the sales of books, he wrote.
Getting Noticed

“Google Books provides a way for authors’ works to become noticed, much like traditional in-store book displays,” according to the opinion. “Many authors have noted that online browsing in general and Google Books in particular helps readers find their work, thus increasing their audiences.”

Google, based in Mountain View, California, in October 2012 reached an agreement with five publishers to end their objections to the digital scanning. The accord allows U.S. publishers to choose whether to make their books and articles available for scanning or have them removed.

The publishers are McGraw-Hill Cos., Pearson Education Inc., Penguin Group USA Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc. (JW/A) and Simon & Schuster Inc., which is owned by CBS Inc.

“This has been a long road, and we are absolutely delighted with today’s judgment,” Google said in an e-mailed statement. “As we have long said, Google Books is in compliance with copyright law and acts like a card catalog for the digital age, giving users the ability to find books to buy or borrow.”

While Google Books is a small part of the company’s services, today’s decision helps Google stay in the forefront of search technology, said Danny Sullivan, founding editor of SearchEngineLand.com.

“I don’t think anybody would want to go back to a card catalog system that some will remember,” Sullivan said. “Google Books allows us to search books in the same way we can search across the entire Web and who wouldn’t think that that’s a benefit for everyone?”


Reference: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-14/google-wins-summary-judgment-in-digital-books-copyright-case.html

Team 17 and Digital Distribution

Over a decade ago, Team17 digitally distributed its first PC game. The same year also saw the launch of its first mobile game and the live beta launch of its first online-only game – in South Korea of all places.

At the time, this generated probably less than one per cent of the business’ yearly revenue. Fast forward to the current day and over 90 per cent of Team17’s games revenue for 2013 will be generated by digital distribution via mobile, PC and consoles.

Developers, like Team17, that took that early leap-of-faith into the digital space have radically changed the way they make games and run their business. Team17 has grown from being an indie developer, transforming its business into that of a digital publisher. Sales, marketing, legal, finance, operations, QA, localisation and community support are just a few additions that have been made in the last five years.

The whole process has left Team17 ahead of the curve, allowing the business to open up its expertise in digital publishing and to work with fellow indie studios that are new to the space.

The Digital Shift

Here’s just a few of the high-level changes digital distribution brings:
Who needs focus groups when we can now make our games with the community involved? In fact, we can involve them before the game is even being made.
Funding has never been so easy. It’s now possible to release an early version and monetise from the start of the project.
PR finally means what it should: ‘public relations’, not just ‘press relations’.
Who cares about day one sales? Now it’s about lifecycle management and, yes, I can see worst case for my daily sales by region.
Gold Master: what’s that? All I hear is Minimum Viable Product – I hate this term, by the way. Games are a service, no matter what platforms you release on.
Price write-downs and sale-or-return. Anyone who’s published into retail knows these are the dreaded phrases when uttered by retail buyers. Now we promote our games by country or globally for the day, weekend, week and so on, at the flick of a switch. I know only about half of the platforms can do this, but the others will catch up.
We know we’re going to get paid and in almost all cases it’s monthly. This is a biggy – I think every dev has a few horror stories. No waiting until 45 days after the quarter’s end, 60 days after the end of the month or when your third-party can actually pay you.
Increase your fanbase. On Worms alone, we’ve seen the core age range drop in the last few years due to the game being introduced to a new audience. Digital distribution simply offers more promotion opportunities than traditional retail.


A new era of distribution

A few years ago the industry talked about the sales levels of triple-A, A, B and C grade games. Today, I believe there’s triple-A (retail and digital distribution) and “everything else” (digital distribution only). If you’re in the “everything else” camp and not digitally distributing your games, you’re more than likely struggling as a business, never mind making a profit. I can’t begin to tell you just how important it is for the survival of many development and publishing firms that they get into and understand the digital space.

Digital distribution has ensured more games than ever are being made. Team17 would not have remade Alien Breed or Superfog without the existence of digital distribution, and I certainly wouldn’t have greenlit the third-party games or new IPs we’re working on.

I recently asked Sony’s Shahid Ahmad just how many of the game deals he’s done in the last few years would he have done if there was only retail. His response was telling: just one.

Competition is fierce for visibility across all digital platforms and it’s never guaranteed. Getting digital publishing right takes hard work and lots of time. It took the failure of a non-Worms game that cost a seven figure sum to make us realise we had to change how we approached everything, building our own publishing firm in the process.

The really good news is we now have many platform choices with lots of different business models. The spirit shared between the indie developers and publishers is something I’m incredibly proud to be part of.

Be it mobile, PC or console, we work to help each other and care about each other’s success, often cross-promoting in some capacity – whether through social media or in-game.

Reference: http://www.develop-online.net/opinions/team17-how-digital-distribution-turned-us-into-a-publisher-again/0185883

Free Digital Distribution And 90% Royalties To Artists & Labels

AMAdea Music is a UK registered company that provides an optimum solution for digital distribution of your music content.

We at AMAdea believe that we should not only work as a standard service company but help artists, labels and distributors adapt to and develop in the ever-changing music industry.

Our team consists of people who like to work in the world of music. This motivates them to give their best to make our customers happy and well taken care of.

Digital Distribution General Points:

- Free distribution, no hidden cost, no upfront cost, no annual cost
- 90% Royalties of all sales through all stores
- 97% coverage of the world, over 70 countries
- more than 500 stores
- you can manage stores where you want to go your music
- delivering to mainstream portals - iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Emusic, Rhapsody and etc.
- delivering to all important dance portals - Beatport, Traxsource, Juno, Trackitdown and etc.








Reference: http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=168987

Jeremie Varengo leave Universal Music to Create His Own Digital Distribution Venture

After more than 7 years at Universal Music, working with the biggest digital music retailers and companies for delivering new content and services to consumers, Jeremie Varengo decided to quit for moving to new challenges.

Among other things, he will be focusing on his own digital music company, JTV Digital.

The “B2C” side of the service is accessible here on http://www.jtvdigital.com.

This is a digital music distribution service with very reasonable upfront fees for the indie artists and labels, a fair pay-out rate of 90% royalties and 24/7 customer support.

The aim is to offer an upper-class service compared to similar providers that exist on the market, by adding lots of features and options such as ‘Mastered for iTunes’, YouTube monetization, iTunes ringtones, etc.

Thanks to various partnerships and supported by a flexible setup, JTV Digital can also deliver digital marketing and promotion (with Dotted Music), radio plugging service, websites, publishing rights administration or music production.

Whether you are an artist, a label or a content owner, JTV Digital can build the solution you’re looking at.

Please contact:
contact(at)jtvdigital(dot)com for further details or business inquiries.



For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11237328.htm



Read more: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/10/17/jeremie-varengo-quits-universal-music-and-creates-his-own-digital-distribution-company#ixzz2i3tlblvp

Valve brings beta of shared game libraries to digital distribution platform Steam

Valve is adding a new feature to its digital distribution platform, Steam. The feature, calledSteam Family Sharing, will allow users to share games with those who share your computer but have their own Steam account. Essentially, if you want to share your Steam game library with someone you share a computer with, you can authorise the computer, which will allow others to play the game on the computer using their own Steam accounts, giving them their own achievements and Steam Cloud saves.





There are some catches, though. For example, both the owner of the Steam library and whoever it is being shared with can't access the library at the same time. The original owner will always have access to the library, though, whether it's on the shared computer or another one entirely. The person using the shared library will get the option to buy the game or quit if the original owner tries to access their Steam game library. The Family Sharing feature can be used on up to 10 devices per account.

As it currently stands, not all games are compatible with it. Since it’s in beta and there are still some kinks to work out, Steam Family Sharing only works with some games right now. Others games that use an additional third-party key, for example, can’t be shared. Borrowers will also be able to play DLC on the shared library. They can’t, however, buy new DLC for the shared games library. They will instead have to buy their own copy of the game and then buy the DLC.

Reference: http://tech2.in.com

Genius Brands Partners With Pacific Digital Distribution to Launch Baby Genius(R) Streaming Service

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. (OTCQB:GNUS), developer and marketer of entertainment products including the award-winning Baby Genius® line of music and edutainment products and characters, today announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Pacific Media Technologies' Pacific Digital Distribution (PDD) division to bring the entire catalog of Baby Genius® video, music and digital content to a global audience.

PDD, a digital video services company dedicated to the distribution of content to broadcast, cable, Internet and mobile video platforms, will connect consumers to Baby Genius® content through its proprietary Cloud Video On Demand WAVE platform. WAVE is an enabled content management system that includes an e-commerce model for online payment gateways and manages digital distribution to any end-points including all mobile and connected devices, and content models including VOD and subscription rentals.

The new Baby Genius® streaming service will be available to consumers beginning in October 2013 at a monthly subscription rate of $5.99 for immediate access to 125 Baby Genius® videos and 500 Baby Genius® songs. Additional digital content including Baby Genius® ebooks and Baby Genius® apps will be added to the service in 2014.

"The WAVE platform provides our customers with tremendous value and a compelling entertainment experience. Consumers are looking for inexpensive and hassle-free ways for their children to view educational and fun shows, and PDD's Wave platform meets that need head-on. Instead of shifting from service to service to enjoy individual titles, subscribers will be able to create custom playlists for hours of enjoyment almost anywhere," stated Genius Brands CEO and Chairman Klaus Moeller.

"We are excited to partner with Baby Genius® and assist with the VOD delivery of their brilliant catalog of children's educational products and media," said Bill Hynes, CEO of Pacific Media Technologies. "Our WAVE platform connects directly to today's Smart TVs and mobile devices using an Internet connection to deliver Blu-ray and DVD-quality video instantly. Baby Genius® customers can now choose from an enormous selection of shows, music, games and e-books while streaming from the cloud without the need of a DVD player."

"The launch of PDD's WAVE Video On Demand Cloud platform and Baby Genius® products demonstrates PDD's commitment to creating an opportunity that instantly delivers the entertainment consumers want directly to their Smart TVs and mobile devices," said Ruben Garcia, PDD Director of New Media.

About Genius Brands

Genius Brands International, Inc. is the developer and marketer of entertainment products including the award-winning Baby Genius® line of music and education-based products and characters. The Company is developing and marketing a growing line of Genius branded products that entertain and educate the whole family. Baby Genius®awards include: Mom's Choice Award, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, The Toy Insider Best Toddler Toys, Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products, NAPPA Honors Award, iParenting Excellent Product Award, Creative Child Preferred Choice Award, Latino DVD Awards, iParenting Media Award, Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence, Kids First! Quality Children's Media Endorsement, Parents Magazine 2002 "Video of the Year," and Best "Under 3" QSR Program 2004/2005 from Restaurant Magazine. Baby Genius® products are available at most major retailers and have international exposure in over 40 countries. For brand information please visitwww.babygenius.com. For Company information please visit http://ir.stockpr.com/babygenius/overview.

About Pacific Digital Distribution

Pacific Digital Distribution (PDD), a division of Pacific Media Technologies, is a digital video services facility dedicated to customization, duplication, and distribution of short and long form content to broadcast, cable, Internet, and mobile video platforms. The Company excels in both analog and digital ad distribution for major Direct Response TV companies. PDD also provides world-class encoding, digital asset management, and content storage solutions. The Company's digital deliverables include: customized editing, repurposing content, archive preservation, and multi-platform international distribution. More information about the Company can be found at www.pmtmedia.tv.

Forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of Genius Brands International Inc. All statements that address operating performance that the Company expects will occur in the future, including statements relating to operating results for fiscal 2013 and beyond, revenue growth, future profitability or statements expressing general optimism about future operating results, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current views and we cannot assure that anticipated results will be achieved. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, uncertainties relating to the Company's success in judging consumer preferences, financing the Company's operations, entering into strategic partnerships, engaging management, seasonal and period-to-period fluctuations in sales, failure to increase market share or sales, inability to service outstanding debt obligations, dependence on a limited number of customers, increased production costs or delays in production of new products, intense competition within the industry, inability to protect intellectual property in the international market for our products, changes in market condition and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available via the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are encouraged to consider the risk factors that could affect actual results. The Company disclaims any intent to update forward-looking statements.

Reference: www.globalnewswire.com

IndieGameStand Launches Full-Service Digital Store

The IndieGameStand launched a year ago as a twist on the ever-popular "pay what you want" game bundles: Every four days it offers a new indie game for whatever price you want to pay. It's one game at a time, but kind of like the weather in Winnipeg, if you don't like what's up for grabs now, just wait a few days for something else to come along. It's enjoyed considerable success, bringing in more than $215,000 for indie developers and nearly $20,000 for various charities, and proven popular enough that the IGS team decided to roll out a full-time digital storefront.

"The idea for the store really came to us after we kept hearing from developers about how easy our backend is to use. Developers can literally set up their game in minutes and get listed in our store the same day they set everything up. We certainly see this as a huge advantage since we don't waste developers' time," IndieGameStand co-founder Mike Gnade explained. "Another thing that separates our store is that it is extremely flexible. Our platform can support a game in alpha or one that just got greenlit by letting the developer easily upload Steam keys which are then automatically distributed to IndieGameStand customers."

The IndieGameStand Store won't rely on a "popularity contest" like Steam Greenlight to determine what goes up for sale, but will instead offer a quality platform and tools to all indie developers who want to take advantage of them. He also said that the IGS team wants to support indie games exclusively and hasn't even discussed the possibility of offering more mainstream games. And while the likelihood of huge, Steam-like sales is remote, the IndieGameStand Store allows individual developers to set their own sale dates, which opens up some interesting possibilities.

"Theoretically, a bunch of indie game developers could band together and launch their own Steam-style sale without our involvement," Gnade said. "Imagine a bunch of Indie Megabooth developers banding together to offer a sale during PAX. That would be really cool and organic. It's awesome that developers (once they're approved) have the freedom to use our tools however they want. We're excited about that."

The IndieGameStand Store is live now and currently offers 94 games from 72 different developers. To mark the moment, the IGS team has chosen 14 of its favorite games for inclusion in a launch sale that will run through October 1, including Escape Goat, SpaceChem, Paranautical Activity and Vox, and there's plenty of other good stuff up for grabs too. (The Adventures of Shuggy is quite solid, if you're interested in a recommendation.) If you're looking to blow a few bucks on some quality indie action, this might not be a bad place to start.

Read more at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128084-IndieGameStand-Launches-Full-Service-Digital-Store#om7uXLJxIl6QCTgx.99

Navori inks digital signage distribution deal with Ingram Micro

Navori Inc. recently announced a U.S. distribution alliance with technology distributor Ingram Micro Inc. As part of the new relationship, Navori will work with Ingram Micro's ProAv and Digital Signage business unit to introduce its new digital signage products for the audiovisual marketplace.

"It seemed natural to team with Ingram Micro, who is a global leader in IT distribution," Navori President and CEO Jerome Moeri said in the announcement. "It was important to design an affordable solution that was able to meet the needs of businesses throughout the U.S."

Available now, Navori QL StiX-2400 is a digital signage player the size of a USB key that the company says is as easy to install as a DVD player.

"Navori's digital signage software plays a critical role within the digital signage marketplace, and we're pleased to add them to our growing portfolio of digital signage solutions,"Kevin Prewett, senior director of Ingram Micro's Pro AV & Digital Signage business unit, said in the announcement.

Program management is performed using a Web-based interface, and the server infrastructure is located in Atlanta, in partnership with Rackspace US Inc., and the product follows the software-as-a-service model, the announcement said.

Reference: www.digitalsignagetoday.com

Rumors of Apple New Radio Shakes the Internet Radio Market...Starting with Pandora Radio

    

Shares of Pandora Media plummeted as much as 21% on Friday after word leaked out that Apple has been in discussions with record labels to launch a competing streaming radio service.


Apple's proposed online service, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would have the potential to disrupt both Internet and traditional radio providers.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is seeking a more flexible type of music license from the record labels than the one Pandora has. It would allow Apple to select whatever song it wants to play next and tailor selections based on albums in listeners' iTunes music libraries, according two industry executives with knowledge of Apple's plans for the service.

Such features would give Apple the ability to customize its music to individuals, which traditional radio can't do, without having to ask them what they like or restrict how often a single song can be played, as Pandora must.

Pandora's stock plunged as much as 21% in trading Friday, dipping below $10 in the morning before recovering slightly. It closed at $10.47, down 16.7%.

Apple's stock, meanwhile, marched up $4.17 Friday to close at $680.44 -- a new all-time high for the company.

A Pandora spokeswoman declined to comment, and Apple did not return calls seeking comment.

Why did Wall Street have such a dramatic reaction?

"This is Apple," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. "If Apple wants to compete with you, then you got a problem."

For years, Apple and Pandora had a symbiotic relationship. After launching its Internet radio service on Apple's iPhone in 2008, Pandora's application skyrocketed in popularity, becoming one of the most-downloaded applications for the device.

Pandora, which had struggled to reach listeners on personal computer Web browsers, saw its audience explode, enabling the company to stem its losses by selling more advertising on its service.

Apple benefited from having one of the most well-liked entertainment services on its phones and tablets without having to spend a cent to develop the product. Now, however, Apple is negotiating deals with music labels for its planned radio streaming service.

"The big open question is: Why is Apple doing this now?" Pachter said. "The answer is that they fully intend to make a lot of money from this, and the way to do it is to sell more songs. The record labels embrace this because they see Apple can integrate iTunes downloads into the radio offerings in a much more compelling way than Pandora can."

Still, Pachter said, if Apple proceeds with launching a radio service, Pandora isn't necessarily toast.

"They have a big install base, and they’re on Android," he noted. "They’re not going to just lose all their customers overnight. I’m sure they’ll keep at least three-quarters of their customers or more, if Apple follows through. It'd be more of a setback as opposed to total devastation, but they’ll recover."

Pandora, which had a rocky time since going public last year, looked as if it may be turning the corner last quarter. Its shares jumped as much as 12% immediately after it reported that second-quarter revenue. That was up 51% from a year earlier to $101.3 million in the quarter that ended July 31.

Executives of the Oakland, Calif., company also said that third-quarter revenue probably would come in as high as $118 million -- higher than the $114 million that financial analysts had expected -- and that it would probably break even in the third quarter or even make a penny a share.


Reference: www.latimes.com

Star looks to do a Hulu with Indya.com

Television broadcaster Star India Pvt. Ltd plans to convert its website Indya.com into a digital distribution platform beaming all kinds of content, including that from rival broadcasters, and generating revenue largely through subscriptions.

Star India says it is in talks with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (MSM) on the commercial terms of bringing their content onto Indya.com, which will be styled on the lines of Hulu.com, one of the largest digital distribution platforms in the US.

Consumers would be able to access the content on any device, whether it’s a smart TV or a smart phone, from the platform, which could be a potential game-changer in the way television is consumed in this country.







Hulu, which shows movies, episodes of TV series and music videos, is a joint venture of News Corp., NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Co. On one platform it provides content from various networks such as NBC, Fox, ABC, Nickelodeon, deriving its revenue from subscriptions and advertising.



Digital experts say Star had earmarked Rs. 40-45 crore for the digital project, but is likely to spend a lot more because a bigger investment is required for both front-end and back-end operations. The broadcaster had been expected to launch the platform in October-November, but the plans have been pushed to the first quarter of 2012.

Star is working with various technology partners—July Systems, Autonomy Interwoven and the video platform Ooyala, among others—for this project. It is expected to use AdTech’s ad-serving technology. Agencies that are helping with the design and campaign include OgilvyOne, G2 Interactive, and Law and Kenneth (Digital).

Star India’s chief operating officer Sanjay Gupta said the broadcaster had big plans in the digital space for India. The first part of the plan has already been executed with episodes of television shows, or mobi-sodes, being created for mobile phones, and the launch of applications for the iPad and iPhone. The move made it the first general entertainment channel to enter the iTunes app store.

“What we are doing is building a digital ecosystem, through which consumers can access content on their preferred device,” Gupta said. “Bandwidth continues to be a problem in the country, which is why we are collaborating with a lot of third-party companies (technology partners) so that we are able to deliver faster videos and a good interface.”

“We want the technology to be perfect before we go ahead with the launch,” Gupta said, adding the plan was to bring some top television networks onto the platform. “The more the numbers, the better it is,” he said, because the idea was to position the site as a one-stop destination for content.

Gupta cautioned that much of the project was a work-in-progress; it may start in a small way and be built up along the way.

He said it was premature to comment on whether Star would monetize all the content on the site and what revenue-sharing model it would adopt with its partners. The business model would be largely subscription-based, although advertising could contribute a part of its revenue.

He added that the current distribution contract with Zee did not cover this venture. “We are in fresh discussions with Zee on this matter,” Gupta said. He did not comment on how much money would be invested in the venture.

Danish Khan, vice-president of marketing at MSM, remained unavailable for comment. An MSM spokesperson said the company was not in a position to comment. A ZEEL spokesperson did not respond to Mint’s email and phone queries.

Prasanth Mohanachandran, founder of digital company AgencyDigi, said Star will have a sizeable first-mover advantage once the project gets off the ground.

“Competing networks could very well think of starting a similar venture themselves,” he said. “But it would take them a window of one-and-a-half years in order to put it together. If they choose not to come on board the Star platform, they lose the money-making opportunity, and plus it’s a year or more of waiting.”

Mohanachandran added that there isn’t much Indian online video content currently, let alone paid-for content.

“The audio-visual format bridges the barrier of literacy. Indian producers would have avenues to put in content and generate money from that content,” he said.

Mohanachandran says it’s a misconception that people will not pay for online content. “People using iPhones are already used to paying for content. Even in tier-two cities, there are SIM cards with pre-loaded content,” he said

Mahesh Murthy, chief executive and founder of digital marketing firm Pinstorm Technologies Pvt. Ltd, said any general entertainment channel would want to expand its base and reach out to the people migrating online.

“They want to follow the YouTube success story. But the thing that’s worked for YouTube is that it’s quite democratic in the content that it puts out. For instance, it does not give precedence to a soap versus a Kolaveri and that’s led to its popularity. There’s every form of video content available.” The reference is to Why this Kolaveri Di, the Tamil music video that’s been watched by millions since its YouTube debut last month.

L.K. Gupta, chief marketing officer at LG Electronics India, said digital expansion is a logical move for media companies.

“As of now, only YouTube is structured and geared to provide huge video content, but it is everything for everyone. A focused approach guarantees quality video content,” he said.

India has less than 200,000 smart TV sets, but over 10 million smart mobile handsets, Gupta said. “Add to this premium-end tablets and there is an audience,” he said, “but is doubtful whether users would be willing to pay for content given a profusion of free videos.”

Abdul Khan, senior vice-president at Tata Teleservices Ltd, shares Gupta’s doubts about the revenue model.

“It’s a networked world and eventually everything’s moving to an open-source model,” Khan said. “Star is ahead of the curve but I have doubts on the business model. There haven’t been too many successful subscription models online.”

External Reference: www.livemint.com

FilmBuff Signs Streaming Pacts With 5 International Distributors

The film sales representative has struck streaming and rental pacts with YOU On Demand (China), Nyoo TV (India), Voddler (Sweden), BigPond (Australia), FetchTV (Australia) and Rogers On Demand Online (Canada).

FilmBuff has previously expanded into the international market, signing distribution agreements with LoveFilm, blinkbox, iTunes UK, iTunes Canada and YouTube Canada.

“We are excited to bring our films to a much larger audience and expand FilmBuff’s worldwide reach as a curator for independent content,” FilmBuff’s International Programming Manager Rebecca Sosa said in a statement.

Upcoming FilmBuff international releases include Banksy’s new documentary "The Antics Roadshow," Harry Shearer’s documentary, "The Big Uneasy," and the Polish Brothers’ drama "For Lovers Only."

External Reference: www.reuters.com

VEVO Will Expand Beyond Music Videos

VEVO has breathed new life into what seemed like a dying business: music videos.

It was created almost exactly two years ago by a pair of record companies -- Universal and Sony -- who wanted to make music videos more of a business.

At the time, music videos (including lots of pirated copies) were spread through countless distributors, and the labels and artists had no easy way to track and monetize them.

The company launched with a distribution deal with YouTube, but VEVO gets first run at selling ads for its content that runs on YouTube. It's also distributed elsewhere, including most recently through Microsoft's Xbox Live service.

Since launch, VEVO has gone on to become the most popular music related Web site, and number three video site (behind YouTube and Facebook) with almost 57 million monthly unique viewers who spend an average of more than an hour at the site.

It has also paid out more than $100 million in royalties to the artists and other content owners who distribute videos through the site.

We caught up with VEVO CEO Rio Caraeff to talk about the future of the company, and music video online.


External Reference: www.sfgate.com

Breakthrough Sets Up Film Distribution Unit

Breakthrough Entertainment is entering the arena of feature-film distribution, having set up a dedicated acquisition and sales unit for movies that will be led by Marina Cordoni.


Breakthrough's film division will represent independent movies across TV, home entertainment and digital platforms as well as manage each title's theatrical release. The new shingle will also manage theatrical feature distribution in Canada.



Serving as the VP of movies, Cordoni will oversee all acquisitions and distribution areas for the film division. Cordoni joined Breakthrough in 2005, with oversight for the development, financing and distribution of original and third-party produced feature films and TV movies.

The new division launches with six feature films for worldwide distribution. The slate includes Gods of Accident, a thriller directed by David A. Fischette and Jayme LaForest and written by Jayme LaForest; Dancing on the Edge, a suspense drama written by Alexander MacKenzie; and Coffee, Sex, You, a romantic drama starring Rosie Fellner, Casper Zafer and James Oliver Wheatley. Also in the catalogue are The Wrong Mr. Johnson and Hooked on Speedman. Breakthrough's film unit also has the Canadian rights to a sixth film, Good Day for It, a modern-day western starring Robert Patrick, Lance Henrikson and Hal Halbrook.

“The establishment of a dedicated film distribution division—added to our company’s robust television production and distribution operations and renowned digital entertainment and games division—further positions Breakthrough Entertainment as a fully-integrated entertainment studio,” said Nat Abraham, the president of distribution for Breakthrough Entertainment. “Through her tenure with Breakthrough Entertainment, Marina has combined her sales prowess and creative skills to contribute towards the ongoing growth of our company and the success of our impressive roster of independent film producers.”

Cordoni added, “The emergence of digital platforms is one among a number of recent developments that are generating new opportunities for the independent film production community. In speaking with many film producers, one common theme has been the need for a distribution home that is both flexible and accessible enough to positively address their unique business objectives. In essence, independent film producers are searching for a real distribution partner—and that is exactly how we have set up our film division.”

External Reference: www.worldscreen.com

Jesta Digital Moves to the UltraESB

AdroitLogic, developer of the high performance Open Source Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) UltraESB, today announced that Jesta Digital, a leading global provider of next generation entertainment content and services for the digital consumer, successfully migrated their ESB clusters from the WSO2 ESB to the UltraESB. Jesta Digital is behind Bitbop wireless subscription service to deliver on-demand commercial-free television and films to personal computers, tablets and smartphones, and home to a number of well-known and established brands including Jamba and Jamster, which deliver branded content, music, games and apps to millions of mobile consumers.

"In a very demanding and rapidly changing market it is of utmost importance to be able to quickly adjust the technical platform to support product innovation and change. The UltraESB was able to demonstrate to the Jesta Digital Technology team in Berlin that its simplicity, testability, extensibility and performance is made for a matching foundation" said Eric Hubert, the Executive Director of Strategy and Architecture at Jesta Digital.

On the main ESB cluster, Jesta Digital processes around 80 million messages a day with a peak 3,000 TPS across three nodes. The average CPU utilization has been just 5% with the heap memory usage at 300MB with very low GC overheads due to the efficient use of a RAM disk coupled with Zero-Copy and Non-Blocking IO. Prior to the migration, Jesta Digital customized the ESB Performance Benchmark (http://esbperformance.org) to compare the WSO2 ESB against the UltraESB for both SOAP and Hessian messages over HTTP/S for a sample scenario. Benchmark results similar to those published recently on the ESB Performance site were independently verified by Jesta Digital during this exercise. Furthermore the UltraESB showed extreme stability during stress tests executed over multiple days.

"We have a top notch technical team at Jesta Digital in Berlin and it was a great pleasure to work with subject-matter experts who combined first-hand knowledge, passionate work on their product and dedication to tackle the customer's challenges" said Eric.

During the migration process, AdroitLogic also worked with the Jesta Digital team to include some key features for even better enterprise deployment support. Among these is the ability to switch a live configuration with zero down time while messages are being processed. Previously servers had to be gracefully shutdown for updates, resulting in an unequal distribution of traffic across the nodes after a configuration switch, leading to connection related issues. In addition, AdroitLogic developed a feature to easily manage and monitor services and endpoints via automatic registration against a Zabbix monitoring server, using predefined or customized templates via JMX.

The UltraESB is clustered using the Apache ZooKeeper framework, and thus a single node, or the whole cluster can be managed from any of the nodes via a remote web based console, command line interface or via JMX/jconsole.

External Reference: www.sfgate.com

AnyClip Signs Distribution Deal with Warner Bros

AnyClip has signed a content licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to create a library of clips from movies like "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Batman Begins," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Dirty Harry." Each film is tagged with more than 5,000 individual elements and added to AnyClip's online library. That library now has more than 12,000 films and 50,000 live clips from production companies including Universal Pictures, Vivendi Entertainment, First Look, and Virgil Films.

AnyClip helps movie studios monetize their content libraries by creating promotional channels for movies. By using AnyClip affiliates, third-party brands and publishers can also legally get access to the content, as well as consumers on the AnyClip Web site.

The major motion picture industry has been a tough one for startups to crack. Competitors include ClipBlast, VideoSurf, and blinx. AnyClip has been the most successful at securing the partnerships that will make its database the most extensive.

AnyClip was founded in 2008 by Aaron Cohen, Michael P. Schulhof, and Erel N. Margalit. The current CEO is Oren Nauman (since 2010). AnyClip is funded by Jerusalem Venture Partners. The company hasn't announced its total funding to date, but it did raise a $3 million round in 2009. Board members include Mickey Schulhof, former president and CEO of Sony America and Sony Media and Entertainment; Erel Margalit, founder and managing partner of JVP who has led 15 Nasdaq IPOs; and Art Levitt, formerly CEO of Fandango, president of Disney Regional Entertainment, and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe International.

External Reference: http://news.cnet.com

SoundExchange Contributes More in Royalties to Music Industry in Current Distribution Quarter

SoundExchange announced today that it has distributed nearly $88 million to more than 18,300 payees designated by recording artists and labels during the third quarter of 2011. SoundExchange is the non-profit performance rights organization (PRO) that was appointed by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect and distribute statutory performance royalties owed to recording artists and sound recording copyright owners. The quarterly distribution, SoundExchange's largest to date, includes royalties paid by Internet radio, satellite radio and cable TV music-only channels.

The announcement comes days after global research publication Music & Copyright reported that SoundExchange is the "global leader" in the collection and distribution of sound recording performance royalties. Total distributions made by SoundExchange in 2010 were $249.2 million, up from $155.5 million in 2009.

"We've processed an unprecedented amount of digital performance data this quarter, which is proof positive that consumers are listening, purchasing and enjoying music in more ways than ever," said SoundExchange President Michael Huppe. "These payments are the result of billions of digital performances by thousands of music services every month. It is our responsibility to ensure that this upsurge of digital performances can be converted into a reliable revenue stream for those who created the music."

SoundExchange's continued investment in world-class technical expertise has been critical in ramping up the organization's ability to ingest and process high volumes of data. In addition to the accomplishments of the SoundExchange staff, the distribution was aided by the help of the very artists and labels who are receiving these payments. SoundExchange's claims processing program permits copyright owners to claim tracks that have been reported without sufficient data. Through the claims program, artists and labels help SoundExchange as well as themselves by ensuring the organization has accurate metadata for recordings. Fully $15 million of the quarter's payouts were the result of claims and adjustments.

Artists and copyright owners are encouraged to learn more and register to receive royalties for their work at http://www.SoundExchange.com/.

About SoundExchange

SoundExchange is the non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio, internet radio, cable TV music channels and other services that stream sound recordings. The Copyright Royalty Board, created by Congress, has entrusted SoundExchange as the only entity in the United States to collect and distribute these digital performance royalties for featured recording artists and master rights owners. SoundExchange has paid out more than $800 million in royalties. For more information, visit www.SoundExchange.com.

External Reference: http://www.sacbee.com

Intellectual Property and Digital Distribution

The international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP announced that Larry Kanusher has joined the firm as a shareholder in the Entertainment and Media Practice. Kanusher joins Greenberg Traurig from Sony Music Entertainment where he most recently served as Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the company's Global Digital Business group.

Kanusher focuses on acquiring and exploiting intellectual property rights, with a focus in digital distribution. His areas of experience include analyzing, negotiating and drafting digital distribution deals for a wide range of intellectual property assets across a variety of evolving digital platforms, functionalities, business models and end user devices.

Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Kanusher served a variety of roles over a 19-year career at Sony Music Entertainment and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, including positions in the Global Digital Business, New Technology & Business Development, Law and International departments. Prior to that, Kanusher worked as an attorney for EMI Records and as an associate at Gold, Farrell & Marks. Kanusher started his legal career as a Law Clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Mitchell H. Cohen in Camden, New Jersey. In addition, Larry served as Vice President of Business Affairs for Island Records.

"Having built one of the top global digital media practices in the country, we are incredibly excited to welcome Larry to the Greenberg Traurig team," said Bobby Rosenbloum, Co-chair of Greenberg Traurig's Atlanta Entertainment and Media Practice. "Larry is very well-known in the digital music industry and he brings a unique perspective from the content owner side which is an invaluable service to our clients."

"Our entertainment and media practice is multi-disciplined and concentrates on many areas including music, motion picture, television and sports," said Joel A. Katz, Chair of Greenberg Traurig's Global Entertainment and Media Practice. "While we will continue to enhance our expertise in these areas, one area of explosive growth is digital media. Larry's focus in the digital media business combined with his extensive experience in entertainment law for many years at Sony Music brings a depth of experience to our entertainment practice."

"I'm extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with the talented team in Greenberg Traurig's entertainment and media practice," Kanusher said. "With the support of the Greenberg Traurig team, I will be able to offer media clients the comprehensive strategic counseling and legal representation they need to bring exciting, innovative digital products and services to the global marketplace."

Greenberg Traurig offers clients a preeminent, wide-ranging Entertainment and Media Practice, with attorneys focusing on digital media, television, mobile content delivery, music, motion pictures, sports, Internet, publishing and theater. Greenberg Traurig was among the first law firms in the country to create a branded media practice -- and has emerged as a predominant global player in the digital space.

External Reference: http://www.marketwatch.com