archives

o RIAA Petitions Copyright Office For Direction On Digital Royalties
o Bertelsmann In Talks To License RecordTV Technology
o Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Site Flycode.com Receives $1 Million
o Animation Firm Stan Lee Media Receives $2.2 Million
> Digital Media Wire Networking Events: DC Area, Los Angeles
o Briefly Noted: MP3.com - Korea Thrunet, Indiqu - Go2 Systems,
ExtremeSports.com - Ecast, Docuweb.org
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o RIAA Petitions Copyright Office For Direction On Digital Royalties

Washington, D.C. -- The Recording Industry Association of America has
petitioned the U.S. Copyright Office, asking it to conduct rulemaking
proceedings to determine the obligations of digital music providers to pay
mechanical royalties to music publishers. A compulsory mechanical license
is typically paid to music publishers for CDs and permanent downloads,
which will always remain property of the consumer. It is unclear whether
or not on-demand music streaming or temporary downloads, which expire
after a given amount of time or number of listens, should be viewed in the
same light, and therefore require web music companies to pay royalties on
them. The RIAA said its petition aims to bring music subscription services
being developed by the major labels online more quickly. "Songwriters and
music publishers must benefit from these new opportunities online," said
RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen. "But if the legitimate industry’s efforts to offer
consumers the benefits of subscription services are slowed down, piracy
will continue to fill the void." The RIAA is asking the Copyright Office
to determine whether or not compulsory licensing applies to on-demand
streaming and temporary downloads, and if so, to set rates for the
royalties that will be charged to web radio stations and subscription
services.
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=357
http://www.riaa.com/pdf/petition.pdf
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o Bertelsmann In Talks To License RecordTV Technology

New York -- German media company Bertelsmann is negotiating to license
technology from RecordTV that allows users to watch TV programs recorded
by their computers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Agoura
Hills-based RecordTV was sued by the Motion Picture Association of America
for copyright infringement, shortly after the company announced its
existence. Bertelsmann recently announced that it would work with
controversial music company Napster to develop a paid membership
file-sharing service. Bertelsmann mediaSystems e-business manager Giovanni
Giamminola said that an agreement between the two companies is near, but
that Bertelsmann would not offer the service without the permission of
television networks. The RecordTV service allows users to search online
for upcoming television programs, and set their computers to record them,
much like a VCR. "This [licensing deal] could literally be the make or
break for RecordTV," said RecordTV CEO David Simon.
http://www.recordtv.com
http://www.mpaa.org/Press/RecTVComplaint.htm
http://www.techfirm.com/briefs/answer.pdf
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o Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Site Flycode.com Receives $1 Million

San Francisco -- Flycode.com, which is developing a peer-to-peer file
sharing network for video and other digital content, announced on Friday
that it has raised $1 million in a round of bridge financing from its
current investors, which include LWK Ventures, Venture-Concept and
Waterview Advisors, and several new angel investors. The company said it
expects to raise $8 million by the first quarter of 2001 in its second
round of financing. San Francisco-based Flycode.com, formerly known as
AppleSoup, is developing a peer-to-peer network for digital content that
it says will be able to track and monetize the files shared. Former CEO of
HBO and Viacom Frank Biondi, current chairman of Flycode.com-investor
Waterview Advisors said that, "The reason the entertainment community has
yet to embrace such services has been a fear of copyright infringement.
[Flycode.com] has succeeded in finding a way to offer a depth of content
to consumers, without violating anyone's rights or intellectual property."
http://www.flycode.com
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o Animation Firm Stan Lee Media Receives $2.2 Million

Los Angeles -- Stan Lee Media, an animation company founded by Spiderman
and X-Men creator Stan Lee, announced on Friday that it will receive up to
$2.2 million in bridge financing, and has an agreement in principal for an
equity line of up to $40 million. Los Angeles-based Stan Lee Media
develops animation for the Internet, as well as movies and television. The
company's stock price has dropped in recent weeks from near $10 to just
over $1 on Friday. "We believe that the equity line will help to put the
company on strong financial footing for some time by allowing the company
to draw down additional financing on an as-needed basis," said Ken
Williams, CEO of Stan Lee Media. "Despite the recent downturn in our stock
price, the fundamentals of the company remain unchanged and we will
continue to pursue our strategy of developing and creating branded
entertainment properties for all media."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001201/ca_stan_le.html
http://www.stanlee.net
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> Digital Media Wire Networking Events: DC Area, Los Angeles

DC Area -- Digital Media Wire will host its next networking event on
Wednesday, December 6 in Vienna, Virginia for subscribers and those
interested in the convergence of entertainment, technology and the
Internet. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served and there will be a cash
bar.

Date: Wednesday, December 6, 2000
Time: 6:30 - 8:30
Location: Clyde's of Tyson's Corner
8332 Leesburg Pike - Vienna, VA

There is no charge for the event, but attendees must register at the link
below.
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/washington.htm

Los Angeles -- Digital Media Wire will host a networking event on
Wednesday, December 13 in Los Angeles for subscribers and those interested
in the convergence of entertainment, technology and the Internet. Light
hors d'oeuvres will be served and there will be a cash bar. There is no
charge for the event and registration is not necessary.

Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2000
Time: 6:30 - 9:30
Location: The Sunset Trocadero Lounge
8280 Sunset Boulevard - West Hollywood, CA

For additional details: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/dmw_event1.html
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o Briefly Noted:

(San Diego) MP3.com, a downloadable music site, announced that it has
partnered with Korea Thrunet, a provider of high-speed cable Internet
access in Korea. Under the deal, MP3.com will develop a Korean-language
interface that will be implemented on Korea Thrunet's portal, Korea.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001128/ca_mp3_kor_2.html
http://www.mp3.com
http://www.korea.com

(San Diego) Indiqu, a provider and syndicator of entertainment content for
wireless devices, announced on Friday that it has partnered with Go2
Systems, a provider of location-based information for wireless device
users. Under the partnership, San Diego-based Indiqu's games, action
sports news and ski reports will be featured on Go2 System's regional
portals of information for users of wireless devices.
http://www.indiqu.com
http://www.go2online.com

(Capistrano Beach, Calif.) ExtremeSports.com, an extreme sports
entertainment site, announced on Friday that it has partnered with San
Francisco-based Ecast, to provide streaming video clips for Ecast's
network of interactive entertainment appliances. Ecast places
Internet-ready kiosks in bars, restaurants, and other public venues for
pay-per-use. Capistrano Beach-based ExtremeSports.com will provide the
kiosks with two-minute clips of surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and
BMX events.
http://www.extremesports.com
http://www.ecastinc.com

(San Francisco) Streamingmedia.com ran a feature this week on Docuweb.org,
a non-profit company that streams film documentaries on the Internet. The
site currently features three films, but hopes to offer 50 by the end of
January by adding user-generated documentaries and films in the public
domain. The company seeks funding in the form of grants from major
foundations, and from "venture philanthropists." San Francisco-based
Docuweb said its focus is to become a resource for educational purposes,
as well as to generate a source of income for its community of documentary
filmmakers.
http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=6564
http://www.docuweb.org
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