archives

o Judge Says Napster Must Remain Offline Until Filters 100% Effective
o Court Denies Random House Injunction, Saying an E-Book is Not a Book
o Metallica, Dr. Dre Settle Lawsuits Against Napster
o Microsoft Becomes Technology Partner for Sony, Universal's Pressplay
o Congress Approves Schools' Putting Copyrighted Materials Online
o Liquid Audio Ends Relationship with Controversial Japanese Affiliate
o Briefly Noted: First International Digital - MP3.com, Bhu Srinivasan -
Salon.com, AOL Time Warner - Philips, Digital actors, James Daly -
Business 2.0, Brilliant Digital Entertainment - Warner Bros. Online,
Librarians - digital copyrights, MP3.com Summit
_____________________________________________

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o Judge Says Napster Must Remain Offline Until Filters 100% Effective

Redwood City, Calif. -- Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued an order Wednesday
saying that Napster -- which has been offline for over a week as it tries
to fix technical problems with its filtering technology -- must remain
offline until filtering of copyrighted songs on the file-sharing service
is 100 percent effective. Napster said it will appeal the ruling. The
company also reported that audio fingerprinting technology it recently
implemented has increased the efficiency of its filtering to 99.4 percent,
but Judge Patel said that is not enough to comply with her original
injunction. "Judge Patel's decision today that Napster should not resume
operations until it can show that it can comply with the court’s modified
preliminary injunction was inevitable -- given its failure to comply with
the court’s order for so long," said RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen, in a
statement. "We believe the Judge's order is inconsistent with the 9th
Circuit's decision and wrong on a variety of other grounds," said Napster
CEO Hank Barry, in a statement. "We will appeal to the 9th Circuit on an
expedited basis. We will continue to work with the technical expert and
explore other options for resuming transfers as soon as possible."
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=430
http://www.napster.com/pressroom/010711-statement.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6549898.html?tag=mn_hd
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,45184,00.html
_____________________________________________

o Court Denies Random House Injunction, Saying an E-Book is Not a Book

New York -- A federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that authors such
as Kurt Vonnegut and William Styron retain the rights to publish their
works in electronic, or e-book format, and did not sign away those rights
in their contracts with publisher Random House. Random House's contracts
with the authors gave them the rights to publish all versions of their
works "in book form;" however, the judge ruled that e-books are a
"separate medium from the original use." Random House sued online retailer
RosettaBooks, which signed new contracts with the authors to distribute
works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Sophie's Choice" as e-books.
Random House told reporters that it is still considering whether or not to
take its copyright infringement claim to a full trial. As part of his
ruling, the judge noted that such a claim "is not likely to succeed."
RosettaBooks took advantage of the decision by prominently displaying
offers for e-book titles from Vonnegut and Styron on the homepage of its
website on Thursday.
http://www.rosettabooks.com/pages/legal.html
http://www.rosettabooks.com/casedocs/Decision.pdf
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=34517&pod_id=8
_____________________________________________

o Metallica, Dr. Dre Settle Lawsuits Against Napster

Redwood City, Calif. -- Napster announced on Thursday that two
longstanding and vocal opponents of the file-sharing service -- metal band
Metallica and rapper Dr. Dre -- have settled their copyright infringement
lawsuits against the company. Both artists sued the company, and Metallica
even had users blocked from Napster who were sharing their songs. The two
artists have now agreed to "allow the sharing of certain of their material
from time to time once an acceptable model is in place that ensures
payment to artists and publishers for the use of their works," Napster
said in a statement. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed, but
damages for past infringements will likely be covered by ongoing
litigation against Napster by Warner (Metallica) and Universal (Dr. Dre).
"Our beef hasn't been with the concept of sharing music," Metallica
drummer Lars Ulrich said, in a statement. "Everyone knows that we've never
objected to our fans trading tapes of our live concert performances. The
problem we had with Napster was that they never asked us or other artists
if we wanted to participate in their business… It's good that they're
going legit." Napster founder Shawn Fanning commented that, "Even when we
were at odds with Metallica, we always understood that they had the best
interests of artists in mind. It's time to end the court fight and shake
hands." Dr. Dre echoed Metallica's sentiment: "I work hard making music --
that's how I earn a living. Now that Napster's agreed to respect that, I
don't have any beef with them."
http://www.napster.com
_____________________________________________

o Microsoft Becomes Technology Partner for Sony, Universal's Pressplay

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced on Thursday that its Windows Media
Audio and digital rights management technologies will be used as the
distribution platform for Pressplay, the digital music subscription
service being developed by Sony Music and Universal Music Group. MSN Music
will offer a co-branded version of Pressplay on its site, joining Yahoo as
a distributor and marketer for the service. The deal gives Microsoft a
needed entry into the digital music distribution market, where competing
technology provider RealNetworks has staked its claim as the technology
partner for MusicNet -- the subscription service being launched by major
labels Warner, EMI and BMG -- which AOL will market and distribute.
"Essentially, you have a duopoly of online music distribution now centered
around two technologies, Real and Windows," Webnoize analyst Lee Black
told Reuters. It is unclear to what degree the two services will offer one
another's music catalogs, although both have said they will license to
other services as well as offer music from independent labels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010712/sfth063.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010712/2454.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010712/tc/media_microsoft_pressplay_dc_2.html
_____________________________________________

o Congress Approves Schools' Putting Copyrighted Materials Online

New York -- The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the
Internet and Intellectual Property has passed a bill that would allow
schools to post copyrighted materials online so that distance learning
students could have access to them, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The schools must implement digital rights management of some kind to
ensure that files cannot be viewed or copied without permission. Copyright
holders have argued that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in fact
prohibits schools from offering this service. A similar bill was passed in
the Senate in June; full House approval is needed to send the bill to
President Bush.
http://www.house.gov/judiciary
_____________________________________________

o Liquid Audio Ends Relationship with Controversial Japanese Affiliate

Redwood City, Calif. -- Liquid Audio announced that it will sever all ties
with Liquid Audio Japan, a company it owned a small stake in that
distributed its technology in Japan. The company has 30 days to change its
name, cease using the Liquid Audio trademark, return all technology and
products, and transfer existing customers over to Liquid Audio. The
Japanese affiliate's stock plunged after Tokyo police arrested its former
president in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a former company
executive, who reportedly was planning to leave and start his own company.
"[Liquid Audio Japan] got itself in a world of hurt with its alleged
associations with the underworld, and nobody would buy the company's
stock," Liquid Audio CEO Gerry Kearby told CNET. "The taint of that
company caused a lot of partners not to do business with them." Redwood
City-based Liquid Audio said it will open a new office in Tokyo to manage
existing customer relationships and establish new ones.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010711/sfw115.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6549326.html?tag=ch_mh
http://www.liquidaudio.co.jp/
http://www.liquidaudio.com
_____________________________________________

|||||||||||||||||| Pepper Hamilton Legal Update ||||||||||||||||||

> Print Media Industry Faces the Digital Tsunami:
New Cases Challenge Old Licensing and Rights Transfer Forms

In the 20th century, the music and film industries faced the sometimes
unanticipated legal consequences of technological innovations that
provided alternative means of delivering “content” to consumers. Now, in
the context of digital media and the internet, the print media industry is
also being forced to face some very difficult legal issues. Three
significant cases, Tasini v. New York Times Co., Greenberg v. National
Geographic Society, and Random House, Inc. v. Rosetta Books LLC all raise
issues as to whether a print media publisher’s licensing agreements confer
the rights to re-publish printed works in digital contexts, such as
searchable databases and CD-ROMs. Both the New York Times Co. and the
National Geographic Society found that their earlier, standard license
agreement terms were not broad enough to encompass these new digital
forms. Random House also received a strong message that its earlier,
standard agreement terms are not broad enough to encompass re-publishing a
literary work in e-book format. On July 11, the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York denied Random House’s request for a
preliminary injunction against Rosetta Books LLC, an e-publisher who
republished, in e-book format, such Random House staples as Kurt
Vonnegut’s "Breakfast of Champions" and William Styron’s "Sophie’s
Choice." These three critical cases demonstrate that reliance on standard
but outmoded contract terms in the print media industry can be potentially
disastrous for publishers of literary, technical, news or other printed
media content.

http://www.pepperlaw.com/pepper/calendar1.cfm?RID=214.0

Look for this regular legal update, written and produced by the law firm
of Pepper Hamilton, every other week in Digital Media Wire.
_____________________________________________

> Digital Media Wire Presents a Panel Discussion:
"iTV: Defining the New Face of Television"

Los Angeles | Wednesday, July 25th at the Four Seasons Hotel

SPONSORS:
Deloitte Consulting
Jones Day Reavis & Pogue

This panel of players ranging from content providers to hardware
developers will discuss the new face of television, which will include an
amalgam of services like email, IPGs (interactive program guides), PVRs
(personal video recorders), enhanced TV, etc., and what it means for
Hollywood, the tech industry and most importantly, the consumer.
For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=15540&Referrer_id=4074

MODERATOR:
Michael Kline - Senior Manager | Deloitte Consulting

SPEAKERS:
Amy Friedlander - SVP Business & Legal Affairs | Intertainer
Arthur Orduna - VP Marketing | Canal Plus Technologies
***Additional Panelists TBA***

For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=15540&Referrer_id=4074
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(San Diego) First International Digital (FID), a Motorola spin-off and
developer of digital audio technology, announced on Thursday that MP3.com
will provide it with 2,500 songs from its site to encode in its MP3i
format. MP3i allows for rich media such as lyrics, liner notes and
promotions to be embedded along with the music file, and is compatible
with all software and devices that play MP3 files. MP3.com will host the
2,500 songs on Schaumburg, Illinois-based FID's website, which can be
opened using FID's proprietary jukebox or using a plug-in for the Winamp
player.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010712/neth006.html
http://www.myirock.com

(New York) Inside.com reported Monday on a 24-year-old former dot-com
CEO's takeover bid for struggling online magazine Salon.com. The company
-- which could conceivably be purchased for under $2 million given its
current stock price of $0.13 -- would change drastically under Bhu
Srinivasan's leadership. Srinivasan has said he would lay off the
editorial staff and instead use the site to syndicate articles from other
publications like The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly and The Onion. ''What
I'm advocating is that [Salon] could be profitable in 30 days," said
Srinivasan.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=34503&pod_id=7
http://www.salon.com

(New York) AOL Time Warner said on Thursday it has forged a partnership
with Amsterdam-based Royal Philips Electronics. Under the multi-year deal,
the two companies will launch a series of online, on-air and print
marketing campaigns to help increase their brand recognition worldwide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010712/2116.html

(New York) The New York Times on Thursday offered a feature story on
actors' reactions to the use of "digital actors" that have actually been
designed to look like humans -- rather than insects or toys -- in the new
film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" from Columbia Pictures. "I am
very troubled by it," actor Tom Hanks told the Times. "But it's coming
down, man. It's going to happen. And I'm not sure what actors can do about
it."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/technology/08FANT.html
http://www.finalfantasy.com

(San Francisco) Business 2.0 founding editor James Daly offered his
parting words on the company's Business2.com website on Thursday. The
three-year-old new economy magazine was recently acquired by AOL Time
Warner for $68 million. Daly will be laid off from the company -- along
with all but three of Business 2.0's 50 employees -- as the magazine is
merged with AOL Time Warner's Ecopmany Now. In his comments on the
changeover, Daly remarks: "I have no doubt that those who produce the new
Business 2.0 will do a good job, but any publication and Website closely
reflects the sensibilities of the edit team that puts it together, and
these new editions will undoubtedly reflect those changes."
http://www.business2.com/ebusiness/2001/07/di_final.htm

(Glendale, Calif.) Brilliant Digital Entertainment, a producer of 3-D
animated content for the Web, announced on Thursday that Warner Bros.
Online has ordered an additional 30 installments of its animated series
"The Multipath Adventures of Superman." Warner Bros. Online is also
featuring a 3-D series based on "Xena: Warrior Princess" and several 3-D
music videos created by Glendale-based Brilliant Digital.
http://www.brilliantdigital.com
http://www.warnerbros.com/pages/multipath/superman/main.jsp

(San Francisco) CNET featured an analysis on Thursday of how librarians
are becoming involved in digital copyright arguments as they are
threatened with limits on their free speech and the ability to make
copyrighted materials available to their patrons.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-6545588-0.html?tag=tp_pr

(San Francisco) Wired News featured an article Thursday on the "MP3.com
Summit," a conference organized by the company to discuss the state of
digital music, which is now in its fourth year. The event started as a
pizza party at the company's San Diego offices, but this year will be held
at the University of California, San Diego and is being webcast live on
the Internet.
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,45094,00.html
http://www.mp3.com/summit/2001/webcast.html

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Job Postings:
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> MusicNet, Lead Program Manager - Seattle

Direct & manage the overall activities of a team of program managers &
coordinate cross-group and/or cross-division projects. Projects involve
assessing new technologies & developing product development plans,
estimating resources & costs, schedules & work development plans.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent in computer science, business or related
field, plus 3 years experience in project management and software
development.
Send resumes to: resumes@musicnet.com and include the job title.
http://www.musicnet.com
______________________

> The Sharper Image, Content Database Specialist - San Francisco

Manage The Sharper Image websites. Development & maintain ongoing
production schedules, updates, content & art placement. Produce style
guides for site continuity. Manage 3-person team involved in site content
management, updates and brand presentation. 3+ yrs. experience managing
people in a production or development setting required. Send resumes to:
tsi@rpc.webhire.com
http://www.sharperimage.com
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> Digital Vision, Ltd., Account Executive - New York City

Achieve sales according to agreed targets & build the Digital Vision brand
within the U.S. Responsibilities include: development of accounts via
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raising of invoices; and telemarketing. Primary role is to maintain a high
level of outbound sales activity. Salary + bonus scheme. Send resume and
salary details to: sarah@digitalvisiononline.com
http://www.digitalvisiononline.com
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> TaskStream, Web Developer/Programmer - New York City

This person’s principal responsibility will be to participate in the
design, Implementation & testing of web application systems. Must be
motivated, self-driven and able to work with others in development groups.
Room for growth, as we are working on a suite of highly dynamic tools that
stretch the limits of web-based data driven applications. Requirements:
Visual Basic/Script/ASP, SQL (MS SQL Server), HTML & JavaScript.
Send resumes to: webster@taskstream.com
http://www.taskstream.com
______________________

> Walt Disney Internet Group, Sales Associate - Los Angeles

Join the ABCNEWS.com/ABC.com sales team. Responsibilities: creating
Powerpoint proposals; prospecting for leads; managing active programs;
providing tracking for existing ad campaigns; quantitive & qualitative
research; & handling clients while all sales reps are out of the office. 1
year experience at an interactive agency. Media background preferred. Send
resumes to: hr.recruiting@dig.com
http://www.dig.com
______________________

> Dittus Communications, Senior Director - Washington, D.C.

Working with the Vice President, this individual will be responsible for
developing and implementing communications programs for our high-tech
clients. Creative writing, strong media pitching, management experience,
solid marketing background as well as 5 to 8 years agency experience
required. Send resumes to karine.elsen@dittus.com
http://www.dittus.com

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http://www.whexpo.com
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> Diversity Expo, July 18 - New York City

NYC’s premier hiring event for Equal Opportunity Employers to recruit
Business & Information Technology Professionals: Sales, Management,
Marketing, Retail, Administrative, Programming, New Media, Telecom,
Engineering Professionals meet directly with hiring managers for immediate
interviews. This annual event draws approximately 70 companies and 3,000
candidates! For more information contact: jpicone@techexpousa.com
http://techexpo.com
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