MAY 2006
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MUSIC - Singer Mariah Carey insures her legs for $1Billion by iafica, 31 May 2006 -- Mariah Carey has reportedly insured her legs for a billion dollars ahead of her first US tour in three years. The singer, who enjoyed a massive comeback year in 2005, has recently inked a deal to star in Gillette's 'Legs Of A Goddess' advertising campaign. "The sum reflects her popularity. She's about to start a US tour and she'll have to be careful," a source close to the singer told Britain's Daily Mirror. The insurance will reportedly ensure that she gets the best possible treatment if she injures herself while on tour. But the singer, whose recent 'Emancipation Of Mimi' album followed years of critical and commercial disappointments which reached their nadir with the film 'Glitter', has refused to address the claims.
"I don’t want to talk about money," she said. "But I would say that if your legs were insured for a billion dollars it wouldn’t be the best thing to go around talking about it.” Apart from the tour, Carey, who won three Grammies for her latest album, is also scheduled to star in a film from the producer of 'Monster's Ball'.
COPYRIGHT - Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by governments to regulate the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration. The symbol for copyright is ©, and in some jurisdictions may alternately be written (c).Copyright may subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works". These include poems, theses, plays, and other literary works, movies, choreographic works (dances, ballets, etc.), musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, software, radio and television broadcasts of live and other performances, and in some jurisdictions, industrial designs. Copyright is a type of intellectual property; designs or industrial designs may be a separate or overlapping form of intellectual property in some jurisdictions.Copyright law covers only the particular form or manner in which ideas or information have been manifested, the "form of material expression". It is not designed or intended to cover the actual idea, concepts, facts, styles, or techniques which may be embodied in or represented by the copyright work. Copyright law provides scope for satirical or interpretive works which themselves may be copyrighted. See idea-expression divide.For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorized parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works which copy or mimic Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be imitative of the original. Other laws may impose legal restrictions on reproduction or use where copyright does not - such as trademarks and patents. source: Wikipedia
MUSIC - Music group Sanctuary sacks CEO over finances -- May 26, 2006 LONDON, UK (Reuters) - Sanctuary, the world's biggest independent music company, has sacked Chief Executive Andy Taylor for his handling of financial accounts, after a tumultuous year that sent its shares crashing. "The board's decision to remove Mr. Taylor followed their conclusion that certain of the prior year adjustments made in the 2005 accounts should have been presented as a correction of fundamental errors and not as changes in accounting policy," the company said on Friday. Taylor has been replaced by Frank Presland, CEO of Elton John's management company Twenty-First Artists, which was acquired by London-based Sanctuary last year. Sanctuary, whose artists also include Morrissey and recent Eurovision Song Contest winner Lordi, nearly collapsed earlier this year, with its shares trading at less than a penny. They gained more than 7 percent on Friday, and were up 5.5 percent at 1034 GMT to 48 pence, valuing the company at about 102 million pounds ($190.6 million). Presland, 62, has worked as a solicitor specializing in music and copyright for over 25 years and has advised acts such as the Beatles and Dusty Springfield. He will hold the CEO post for the rest of the year, at which point the position will be reviewed, Sanctuary said. The company said its profit and loss account for the year to September 30, 2005, might be adjusted as a result of certain exceptional items being recognized in prior years. However, it added that no adjustments were needed to its consolidated balance sheet covering the same period.Sanctuary in February unveiled details of a deeply-discounted 110 million pound equity fundraising to help it recover from the costly acquisition of Urban Records from Matthew Knowles, the father of R&B diva Beyonce. After a series of delayed, rescheduled and canceled releases from Urban Records, Sanctuary said earlier this year it would issue no more from the label. Knowles later announced that he and the company had parted ways.
MUSIC - Hip-hop artist Ludacri stars in copyright case by BBC News 25may2006 -- Rappers Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Kanye West have been accused of stealing another artist's music at the New York District Court in Manhattan. New Jersey group IOF say the stars lifted beats and lyrics from one of IOF's songs to produce the Ludacris and West co-written hit Stand Up in 2003. Lawyers played both tracks to the jury, who were seen nodding their heads in time to the Ludacris record. Both rappers are expected to testify at the trial. Key phrase At issue are the words "like that" which appear more than 80 times in both songs. However, IOF use the phrase "straight like that", while in the Ludacris song the phrase appears as "just like that". Lawyer for the defendants, Christine Lepera, criticised the case. "There are scores of songs out there with the words 'like that' with that type of rhythm," she said. "None of you can monopolise certain expressions." The lawyer said that both songs had a simple beat, and clapped her hands to demonstrate the point. "Do you think your three-year-old can do that?" she asked jurors, suggesting that neither recording could claim to have an original rhythm. Promotional copies The IOF song, Straight Like That, was not a hit and only received airplay on a handful of college radio stations in 2001. However, the band's lawyer, Mel Sachs, said Ludacris "had access to the song on numerous occasions". Promotional copies of Straight Like That had been distributed to one of Ludacris' record companies, the lawyer claimed. IOF "put a lot of time and effort into doing this song and then it was taken away from them," he told the jury. Sachs also noted that Ludacris' single had "catapulted" his career, selling more than 500,000 copies. As well as rapping, Ludacris is known for his acting roles in Crash and Hustle and Flow. West, who co-produced the Ludacris song, is one of the most popular producers and rappers in hip-hop. His first two albums, The College Dropout and Late Registration, have sold millions of copies. The trial is expected to last a week and will determine liability. If liability is found, a second phase will assess damages.
FILM - Annual Springtime Cannes Film Festival - Privileged venue of both film discoveries and encounters, the Festival de Cannes reflects the dual nature of the cinema: art and industry. For if the Festival evokes first and foremost the surprise of being selecting and the hope of winning a prize, it is equally the privileged rendez-vous of all motion-picture industry professionals for whom the Marché du Film was first created at the Festival in 1959. As well as being a most special place for film industry professionals to meet, the Festival is especially attentive to the talent of artists who contribute to the growth of the medium. Throughout the years, the Festival has become famed for the balance it has established between artistic quality of films and commercial impact. Not only are the films presented assured a unique and international platform, but the Festival as well reveals and reflects evolution and trends in world cinema while defending the notion of "auteur cinema for wide audiences".
RADIO & COPYRIGHT -- XM Defends Itself to Listeners by RW Newspaper 20may2006 -- XM Satellite Radio sent an explanation of the record label lawsuit against it for alleged copyright infringement to listeners. Titled "Defending the XM Nation," the satcaster describes the lawsuit regarding the Pioneer Inno. XM describes the Inno, Helix and NeXus devices as similar to TiVo, giving users "the ability to enjoy the sports, talk and music programming whenever you want." "The music industry wants to stop your ability to choose when and where you can listen," states XM. "Their lawyers have filed a meritless lawsuit to try and stop you from enjoying these radios." The record labels liken the Inno to a download service because the user can record, store and disaggregate music; therefore, they argue, XM should pay more than it does now for music copyright fees. The satcaster says the new radios complement download services, but don't replace them. "Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like you. It's misguided and wrong. "We will vigorously defend these radios and your right to enjoy them in court and before Congress, and we expect to win."
TV - New Canadian national pay-TV channel okayed - CP May 19, 2006 -- There’s a new player coming to the Canadian pay television market. But the incumbent broadcasters are making it clear that they retain exclusive contracts with major sources of popular U.S. program content and said they will remain the better deal for subscribing viewers. In a surprise ruling Thursday, the CRTC, the federal broadcast regulator, granted a pay TV licence to Allarco Entertainment. The consortium is owned by the Allard broadcast family of Edmonton, which pioneered Pay TV in Canada with the old Superchannel service in the early 1980s but which has been out of the TV business for years. Allarco plans to be up and running with a six-channel pay service and in high definition by early 2007. “Our service responds to a need for something new,” says chairman and CEO Charles Allard. “We have been putting plans into place that will enable us to begin discussions with cable and satellite distributors immediately.” President and COO Malcolm Knox says they expect — eventually at least — to have access to the content of networks like HBO, which deliver favourite shows like The Sopranos, and of the major Hollywood film studios. But Astral Television and Corus Entertainment said their existing services — The Movie Channel in the East and Movie Central in the West respectively — retain exclusive multi-year contracts with those sources south of the border. “They’re not touching exclusivity,” Alain Bergeron, Astral’s vice-president of corporate communications, said about the CRTC decision. Corus officials declined to comment on which U.S. services are under exclusive long-term contracts with them. In response and apparently unprepared to concede that his new service may be contractually locked out of top-rated imports, Knox insisted there’s still programming out there that’s untapped. “The incumbents in the East and West have had the luxury of taking the cream off the top of programming that’s available and they haven’t taken it all. “Do you think that the U.S. studios have entered into contractual relationships that will lock them up for an extended period of time when they know that the potential existed for another licensee in the marketplace?” Meanwhile, the commissioners turned thumbs down on three other applications including Spotlight, submitted by business executives George Burger and Larry Tanenbaum and widely considered in the industry to have been the front-runner for the licence. Also rejected were plans for Boom TV, English and French services proposed by the Archambault Group of Quebec — a division of Quebecor Media — and for The Canadian Film Channel, a service proposed by Channel Zero which now operates the digital specialty channels Moviola and Silver Screen Classics. With a unique twist, The Canadian Film Channel did not want to go head to head with other applicants, but suggested being bundled along with those services as a supplementary offering of all-Canadian movies. But the other applicants were cool to the idea and the commission ultimately turned it down. The CRTC opened public hearings last October for applicants who hoped to break the 22-year-old monopoly on premium television channels in Canada. Not surprisingly, the two existing licensees argued at the hearings that the market could not support a rival and that the public was fully served already. The commission obviously disagreed. “It is appropriate to grant an exception to its policy that generally precludes the licensing of a service that directly competes with existing pay and specialty services,” the CRTC broadcasting decision said. Despite those earlier gloomy warnings, Bergeron now accepts and respects Thursday’s decision and expects the new licensee will increase Canadian programming. Canadian Film Channel president and COO Cal Miller said he is obviously disappointed his bid lost. “I think our application was something that was needed and is needed,” Miller said. “The idea of a place for people to find Canadian films and get to know them is an idea worthy of continuing to look at.” He wished Allarco all the best although he said he cannot figure out the rationale behind the CRTC decision. “On the up side they were — other than us — the most prepared at the hearing, and I think that probably weighed in their favour.” Allarco has promised to dedicate one of its six channels to all-Canadian fare.
FILM - Film executive hired by Telefilm to boost Canadian cinema bows out 18may06 TORONTO (CP) - A Canadian film executive touted as a significant hope for activating the moribund domestic feature film industry will not be able to accept his recently-announced position with Telefilm Canada after all. "Due to unforeseeable circumstances, I have been unable to extricate myself from obligations to the stakeholders and filmmakers involved in my company," says Michael Jenkinson, the CEO of his Los Angeles-based Urban Entertainment media company. The Jamaican-born Jenkinson, also a former 20th Century Fox executive, was announced last month as Telefilm's new feature film executive for Canada's English-language market. The position was created by Telefilm to help boost ticket-buying for Canadian features since the job included responsibility for all major feature investments by the federal cultural agency. As a result of the complications requiring Jenkinson to step down, Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson will resume the responsibilities personally
RADIO -- Canadian Association of Broadcasting: Future of radio tough to predict by CP GATINEAU, Que. -- The Canadian Association of Broadcasting says the future of commercial radio is so uncertain that it needs the federal regulator to make some important concessions to protect its future. And one such change would be an easing of rules on the amount of Canadian music that radio stations must play. The association says radio stations should instead be given extra credits for playing emerging new artists. The request comes as the regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, opens hearings as part of its review of commercial radio regulations. But the idea of relaxing rules doesn't sit well with independent music producers, who want the CRTC to actually increase the Canadian content rules for radio stations. Cori Ferguson of the record production association says such exposure would help launch Canadian musicians onto the world stage. The CRTC hearings, which will continue all week, come as the radio industry is reporting high profits. But it says it's concerned at the growing number of new ways that Canadians can listen to their favourite music and programming besides traditional radio outlets. Already satellite radio, the Internet, and even personal devices such as the IPod are providing serious competition. And, says the broadcasting association, there's no way of predicting what other competition will arise in the next few years.
MUSIC - Bob Marley bass player loses royalty lawsuit by Adam Pasick LONDON (Reuters) - Aston "Familyman" Barrett, the bass player for Bob Marley and the Wailers, has lost a 60 million pound lawsuit over royalties and song-writing credits that pitted him against Island Records and the Marley family. Barrett, who received his nickname for fathering 52 children, testified that he and his brother Carlton "Carly" Barrett, a drummer for the reggae band who was murdered in 1985, did not receive the money they were due following Marley's death from cancer in 1981. But Mr Justice Kim Lewison dismissed the suit in a ruling at London's High Court on Monday, a move welcomed by Marley's widow Rita and her family. "We always felt this would be the outcome, and it was hard to listen to Aston Barrett reduce his friend Bob to someone who was more interested in playing football than making music," the family said in a statement. Barrett will be liable for court costs and may be forced to sell two properties in Jamaica as a result of the ruling. The Barrett brothers played on numerous albums by Bob Marley and the Wailers, including "Natty Dread", "Rastaman Vibration" and "Babylon by Bus". The judge dismissed their claim to have written several of the band's songs including "War" and "Them Belly Full." During the trial, Rita Marley and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell played down the contributions of the brothers and said Aston Barrett surrendered his right to further royalties in a 1994 agreement that paid him several hundred thousand dollars. "There is, in my judgement, no reason to decline to enforce the settlement agreement against Mr Aston Barrett," Mr Justice Lewison said in his ruling.
Island Records is part of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, and a unit of France's Vivendi.
MUSIC - Universal Settles Pay-to-Play Case by Natalie Finn, May 11, 2006 -- The world's largest record company is ready to give back after being accused of giving too much. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced Thursday that Universal Music Group has agreed to a $12 million settlement in the payola case against the company, which stated that the label gave vacations, gifts and other "outright bribes" to radio stations to ensure airtime for artists such as Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and Brian McKnight. The $12 million is going to the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which will dole the money out to various New York nonprofits. Universal will also shell out $100,000 to cover the cost of the investigation and promote further music industry reforms. While Universal copped to "various employees and independent promoters acting on behalf of the company" behaving inappropriately, the label itself has not admitted guilt in the matter. "We have been working cooperatively with the attorney general's office in resolving these promotion issues and are pleased to have completed the process with this agreement," Universal said in a statement. "The reforms that we have agreed to with the attorney general are consistent with the policies that we voluntarily implemented over a year ago." The record company has agreed to stop all illegal payments as well as the hiring of independent promoters who provided the incentives to radio stations. Universal will also bring a compliance officer onboard to regulate promotional campaigns. Papers filed by Spitzer in New York State Supreme Court alongside the settlement deal still points the finger at the label as a whole, however. Universal comprises Island Def Jam, Interscope, Universal Motown Recordings and Verve Music Group, among others. "UMG has illegally provided radio stations with financial benefits to obtain airplay and boost the chart position of its songs," Spitzer stated. "UMG has obtained airplay for its songs through such deceptive and illegal practices as bribing radio station employees, on occasion, to play UMG songs, providing a stream of financial benefits to radio stations, to assist with stations' overhead costs or to provide promotional support, on condition that UMG records receive airplay." New York's top legal honcho also accused the company, which holds nearly 26 percent of the world's music market and sells one out of every three albums bought in the United States, of using interns and other employees to run fake call-in campaigns to increase the number of times a song hit the airwaves. Shady dealings Universal was accused of include putting up a WFLY-FM program director in a Miami hotel in 2003 and 2004 in return for adding McKnight's "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda" and a Nick Lachey song to the station's playlist. The aforementioned WFLY employee also reportedly scored Yankees tickets for spinning the Lachey tune. We know what you're thinking. Nick Lachey put out a song in 2004? Spitzer also said that, in July 2004, Island Def Jam paid employees $3,500 for six weeks to run a phony call-in campaign to boost airplay for Ashanti's "Rain on Me." According to the attorney general, WGCI-FM in Chicago and WQHT in New York received 25 calls apiece during the first two weeks and 40 calls were made to those two stations and a handful of others in the next four weeks. Island Def Jam also hired people to hype Ludacris' "Stand Up" at stations in Buffalo, Rochester and elsewhere in New York, Spitzer said. "Consumers have a right not to be misled about the way in which the music they hear on the radio is selected," Spitzer told reporters. "Pay-for-play makes a mockery of claims that only the 'best' or 'most popular' music is broadcast." Spitzer, currently the Democratic frontrunner in this year's race for New York governor, has had the music industry quaking in its boots since taking over the attorney general's office in 1998 and becoming a vigilant defender of artists' rights and fair business dealings. His widespread subpoenas have uncovered a number of dirty dealings. After launching an investigation into alleged illegal activity among record labels and radio stations, Sony BMG agreed to halt further illegal radio promotions and settled for $10 million in July 2005. The agreement prohibits Sony employees from passing out gifts valued at more than $150 to radio stations. Warner Music Group agreed to a $5 million settlement in November. Spitzer sued Entercom Communications Corp. earlier this year, accusing the media firm of trading cash for airplay, and Entercom has denied the charges and nixed the idea of a $20 million fine. A two-year investigation into music labels' accounting practices also turned up misplaced funds-- Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI, BMG and Warner Music ended up joining forces in 2004 to locate artists they may have stiffed on royalty payments. The unpaid royalties amounted to more than $50 million. Any unaccounted for money was to go to the state. Spitzer is also currently investigating the U.K.'s EMI Group, home to Virgin Records, Apple Records and a long list of niche labels. The Dirty Harry of the music biz issued subpoenas earlier this year to radio giants Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio Inc., Entercom and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. to investigate charges that they accepted goodies like flat-screen TVs and cash in exchange for showing certain songs special attention. To Spitzer's consternation, the FCC has started informal negotiations to settle with these companies. Spitzer told the Los Angeles Times last month that federal regulators were going behind his back and could undercut his efforts to really make a difference in how the music industry conducts itself. "The radio conglomerates want to settle on the cheap with the Feds and unfortunately the FCC, contrary to good public policy, has not pursued an investigation of the underlying facts," he said.
RADIO - Howard Stern won't return from satellite by L.McShane, Associated Press MAY. 10, 2006 -- No censorship, no fines, no Federal Communications Commission. It's no wonder Howard Stern announced that there's no way he would abandon satellite radio for a return to traditional broadcasting. "I'm very flattered terrestrial radio can't let go of me," Stern said Wednesday on his morning radio show. "But I would throw up if I had to go back. I'm never going back." The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" said three companies had made overtures through his agent for a terrestrial deal, but there was no interest from his end. He did not name the companies, although radio industry expert Tom Taylor said it was no surprise that Stern would draw such attention. "He's a terrific talent, and star talent is always going to be in demand," said Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.Stern, five months into a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., said he was thrilled by the show's evolution since his January arrival. When Stern announced his move in October 2004, Sirius had about 650,000 subscribers. That figure now stands above 4 million. "I've never been happier," Stern said. "We're flying high and doing great." Stern made his comments during an on-air interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. He insisted on speaking with the AP about the reports that he might consider a simulcasting deal where he split time between Sirius and a traditional outlet. Stern competitors Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia recently made such an agreement with CBS Radio. Stern worked for CBS before making his move to satellite in January. CBS was once part of Viacom Inc. but now is part of CBS Corp. Stern said that Opie and Anthony's return to traditional radio signified their "failure" on satellite, and he reiterated his intent to continue his program exclusively on satellite. "The story is I wouldn't do it (terrestrial radio) for any reason," Stern said. "Not for money. I left because I couldn't stand the censorship. I couldn't stand" the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC and Stern were locked in a long, pitched battle that led to staggering fines for the content of the shock jock's show. Opie and Anthony, on their morning show, continued their long-running feud with Stern by questioning his claims. "He's lying through his teeth," said Hughes about any offers for Stern to come back on terrestrial radio. On Tuesday, the New York Post identified one of the potential bidders for Stern as Citadel Broadcasting Corp., whose chief executive, Farid Suleman, worked with Stern for several years at Infinity Broadcasting until his departure for Citadel in March 2002. Calls to Citadel for comment were not immediately returned.
MUSIC - Downloading dispute intensifies in Ottawa by G.Dixon, Globe & Mail, 10may2006 Toronto -- The lobbying campaign for new copyright legislation continues to heat up in Ottawa, with the recently created Canadian Music Creators Coalition announcing that it met yesterday with both Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, along with rounds of meetings with opposition heritage critics. The musicians' coalition opposes attempts to tighten digital locks preventing home copying or efforts to sue people who share music for non-commercial purposes. Meanwhile, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), representing the major labels, has said that it is in talks with Ottawa, as it pushes for tighter controls.
MUSIC & Trademark - Apple vs. Apple: Beatles' Apple loses suit -- go to BEATLES section of this blog
TV - In a First, Warner Bros. to Let Local TV Put Sitcom on Web by B.Barnes, Wall Street Journal May 8, 2006 -- In a groundbreaking move for the TV industry, Warner Bros. will allow local TV stations that buy reruns of the comedy "Two and a Half Men" to stream the episodes on their Web sites. The initiative is the first time local TV stations will share in the migration of TV shows onto the Internet. In recent weeks, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and CBS Corp. have taken steps to stream some of their prime-time programs online, hoping to capture some of the ad revenue moving to the Internet. Affiliated stations are angry because they aren't yet getting a share of online revenue and they fear the networks' streaming could erode their own audiences. Warner Bros.' move is also a sign that the TV industry is beginning a broader embrace of digital technologies. Major TV studios have been reluctant to allow hit shows to be streamed online for fear it would cannibalize the money they make from sale of reruns or DVDs. The only exceptions have been in cases where studios and networks fall under the same corporate umbrella, which was the case with ABC. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., is the biggest supplier of primetime shows to the major networks. The move is sure to have ripple effects. Once "Two and a Half Men" reruns are available on station Web sites, other shows sold into the rerun syndication market -- think "Friends" and "Seinfeld" -- may follow. Bruce Rosenblum, president of Warner Bros. Television Group, said the studio would evaluate allowing streaming on a case-by-case basis. "The advertising industry is insisting on including the Internet as a component of their on-air buys," Mr. Rosenblum said. "This is a way for local stations to dramatically enhance the value of their broadband offerings." Warner Bros. will benefit as well. The studio will likely be able to charge stations more for the reruns of "Two and a Half Men" than it might have otherwise. The sitcom, which stars Jon Crier and Charlie Sheen, is a hit but not on the same scale as the broad family programs such as "Everybody Loves Raymond" that typically do well in the rerun syndication market. Stations that buy "Two and a Half Men" will share their online ad revenue with Warner Bros on a 50-50 basis. Warner Bros. said it will also control how the episodes are streamed to protect against piracy and to limit viewing by certain geographical area. Mr. Rosenblum's plans call for stations to stream five episodes of "Two and a Half Men" on their Web sites at a time; the episodes will consist of the previous week's five aired installments. The episodes will be free, available on demand and supported by advertising. A 15-second video commercial that can't be skipped will run at the beginning of each episode.
TV & Copyright -- C-SPAN and copyright by Seattle Post 06may2006 -- What is C-SPAN and are its telecasts are protected by copyright? The key points: C-SPAN television is a private, non-profit corporation funded by the cable industry -- not a government-funded operation as is often believed -- and very little of its programming is actually in the public domain. Almost all of it is copyrighted.
ART - Haircare magnate pays $150m for Picasso 'Shrek' portrait by New Zealand Herald 05may2006 NEW YORK -- An unflattering portrait of one of Picasso's most celebrated lovers, artist Dora Maar, has sold for US$95.2 million ($149 million) at a Sotheby's auction in New York, the second-highest auction price paid for an artwork. The 1941 Dora Maar au Chat transforms the visage of his glamorous girlfriend into a female Shrek. Despite its overt misogyny, the eye-catching portrait almost doubled its presale estimate of US$50 million. The unidentified buyer, seated in the back of the salesroom, outbid several phone bidders. The seller was a member of the Gitwitz family, which made its fortune from Helene Curtis hair products. Maar has talon-like fingernails in the painting, a 120cm by 90cm canvas with a profusion of colours including green, red, orange and purple. "It's a very handsome painting and I like the way the hands are painted," Picasso biographer John Richardson said before the sale. The most expensive artwork ever sold at auction was Picasso's Boy with a Pipe, which fetched US$104 million at Sotheby's in 2004.Richardson called the Maar painting "more commercially saleable" than the more abstract portrait of Picasso's first wife, ballerina Olga Khokhlova, that sold for US$34.7 million this week at Christie's International in New York.
MUSIC - Warner Music rejects EMI bid by AFP 04 May 2006 -- British music group EMI revealed on Wednesday that it made a $4.2-billion (€3.3-billion) takeover approach to Warner Music which was snubbed by its US rival. A combination of EMI and Warner would create the world's third-biggest music company and would count Coldplay, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Eminem and Scissor Sisters among its roster of artists. In its third tilt at its US peer since the start of the decade, EMI said it tabled a cash-and-shares offer priced at 28.50 dollars per share for Warner Music on Monday — only to see its approach rebuffed the following day. EMI Group confirms that on 1 May 2006 it made an approach to Warner Music Group Corp," the group said in an official statement that was issued to the London Stock Exchange in response to recent press speculation. Looking for the right price - However, EMI added that it remained interested in a deal at the right price. "The board of EMI continues to believe that an acquisition of Warner Music by EMI would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders," the record company said. In a separate statement, Warner Music confirmed that its unanimous rejection of the preliminary approach. "The Warner Music Group Corp board of directors has carefully evaluated the proposal in conjunction with the company's outside legal and financial advisors," the US group said. "The board has determined that the proposal is not in the best interests of our shareholders and has unanimously rejected it." EMI and Warner Music are the world's third and fourth-largest record labels behind Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG, and a tie-up would have brought the Virgin, Atlantic and Capitol music labels under one roof. A proposed merger of the two companies was knocked back by European regulators at the start of the decade due to concerns over reduced competition in the record industry. However, the boom in music downloads and a consequent slump in CD sales has sparked a wave of consolidation, putting a marriage of EMI and Warner Music back on the agenda.
ART -- The $45m smile of friend who betrayed Van Gogh by Will Bennett Telegraph New York -- Marie Ginoux, a cafe owner in the French town of Arles, was apparently one of the few to befriend Vincent Van Gogh but had the troubled artist known the truth he might have portrayed her less flatteringly. In 1890, just months before his suicide, Van Gogh painted L'Arlésienne, Madame Ginoux, which sold for $45 million at Christie's in New York on Tuesday. While Van Gogh, who sold only one picture during his lifetime, would be astonished at the prices that his paintings now fetch, he would be equally surprised to learn the truth about Madame Ginoux. Although she and her husband, Joseph, appeared to be among the painter's few friends in Arles, in reality they were supporters of a campaign to have him locked up. New research by Martin Gayford, the writer and art historian, has revealed that Joseph Ginoux was one of the main witnesses supporting Van Gogh's detention at a tribunal examining the artist's mental health. Van Gogh was bitter about the campaign, deciding to pre-empt it by voluntarily entering a mental hospital, but did not know that the Ginoux family were involved. He painted the picture, which sold at Christie's to an anonymous bidder, while in hospital and portrayed her as a sensitive, intelligent person with books, one of them Charles Dickens's Christmas Stories, in front of her. The painting was one of a series planned by Van Gogh as a tribute to his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin. The two men collaborated in Arles until they quarrelled violently and Van Gogh attacked his friend with a razor before severing his own ear. This picture was intended as a present for Gauguin, perhaps as an apology, but was never given to him and, for the past 77 years, has been owned by an American family who sold it on Tuesday. It fetched the highest price of the night at Christie's second ever biggest sale of Impressionist and modern art, which totalled £98.5 million. The next most expensive picture, Pablo Picasso's Le Repos, was also the product of a troubled relationship. It portrays Picasso's fiery first wife, the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, and was bought for almost $40 million for a client by the New York art dealer Larry Gagosian. It is one of three paintings produced by Picasso in three days in 1932, which were intended to show the difference between his temperamental wife and his relaxed mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The painting had remained in the possession of the Picasso family and was sold by the artist's grandson, Bernard. Another Picasso, a rare Blue Period picture from 1902 called Portrait de Germaine, was bought for $20 million.
Books & Copyright - Harvard novelist's book deal canceled: More signs emerge of duplications by David Mehegan, Boston Globe Staff, May 3, 2006 -- Kaavya Viswanathan's publisher canceled her two-book contract yesterday, killing a short-lived plan to scrub the plagiarism from the Harvard sophomore's debut novel and reissue it. The announcement came amid new reports of passages in Viswanathan's novel, ''How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," that appeared to have been borrowed from two other authors. Last week Viswanathan admitted borrowing from two of Megan McCafferty's books but said she did so unintentionally after unconsciously ''internalizing" McCafferty's work. ''Little, Brown and Company will not be publishing a revised edition of 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,' nor will we publish the second book under contract," senior vice president and publisher Michael Pietsch said in a one-sentence statement. A spokeswoman said Little, Brown would have no further comment. Cancellation of an already-published book is rare. In 2003, Alfred A. Knopf took Michael Bellesiles's prize-winning ''Arming America" out of print after the historian was found to have falsified his research and was forced to resign from Emory University. The book had been a best-seller in hardcover and had gone into paperback when it was canceled. By contrast, ''Opal Mehta" was barely off the press when Little, Brown last week recalled as many as 50,000 unsold copies of the novel, which was published April 4. The 19-year-old writer admitted borrowing, in some cases verbatim, passages from McCafferty's ''Sloppy Firsts" and ''Second Helpings." New signs of plagiarism surfaced yesterday, apparently as a result of e-mails and Internet chat from fans of the young-adult authors Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot. The online edition of the Harvard Crimson cited a near-duplication of a passage from Cabot's 2000 best-seller, ''The Princess Diaries," which was made into a movie. The New York Times reported yesterday that Viswanathan apparently also borrowed heavily from Kinsella's ''Can You Keep a Secret?" Before the allegations of plagiarism emerged 10 days ago, Viswanathan was being hailed as a phenomenon. ''Opal Mehta" had a first printing of 100,000 copies, and Viswanathan had received a two-novel contract worth $500,000 at age 17, a month after arriving at Harvard. In an interview with the Globe in January, she said she wrote most of the book during her freshman year. The plagiarism scandal initially fueled sales of ''Opal Mehta." In pulling the book last Thursday, Little, Brown announced it intended to relaunch the book at a future date, purged of the similarities to the McCafferty book. But publishing lawyers yesterday said that, in light of the new revelations, the publisher had to back away from Viswanathan altogether. ''Whether she did it on purpose or not, there was no way to feel comfortable relaunching the book," said John Taylor Williams, a literary agent and veteran publishing lawyer who in the past has represented Little, Brown. ''There was no floor to this. It was freefall. The risk of having another group of readers identify other sources is too great." Viswanathan, who has not responded to the Globe's repeated requests for an interview, did not return a call to her cellphone yesterday. In a appearance on NBC's Today program last week, she said she was taking time off from Harvard. A Harvard spokesman last week said the university was looking into the plagiarism allegations, though it is not clear the school could do anything, since the novel is unrelated to her studies. Canceling the book may reduce Little, Brown's legal liability in any copyright infringement suit but doesn't eliminate it, said Jonathan Kirsch, a Los Angeles author and publishing lawyer. In boilerplate language in publishing contracts -- including those used routinely by Little, Brown, which is a division of Time-Warner -- authors certify that their work is original and does not trespass on anyone's legal rights, including copyright. Even so, Kirsch said, ''the publisher is plainly at risk. The fact that the publisher published, distributed, and sold the book constitutes infringement. Pulling the book off the shelves may have stopped an infringement suit but doesn't make the previous infringement go away." McCafferty has expressed satisfaction with Little, Brown's pulling the book and said she would seek no restitution. Random House, whose imprints published both McCafferty's books and Kinsella's, declined to comment about the new allegations, as did HarperCollins, Cabot's publisher. A Globe examination of the Viswanathan and Cabot books yesterday uncovered several more passages that appeared to be reproduced almost exactly. A passage on page 128 of ''The Princess Diaries" reads: ''And it is sort of hard when all these beautiful, fashionable people are telling you how good you'd look in this and how much that would bring out your cheekbones. . . . And I kept telling myself, She's only doing this because she loves you. . . ." Page 58 of ''Opal Mehta" reads: ''In my defense, it was hard to be uptight and prickly while surrounded by beautiful, fashionable people all telling me how good I'd look in that shade and what this color would do to enhance my cheekbones." It was unclear yesterday whether Viswanathan or Alloy Entertainment, the so-called ''book packager" that holds the copyright on ''Opal Mehta" jointly with her, would have to return whatever portion of the advance they received. For Little, Brown, recovering its advance is probably less pressing than protecting its reputation, said Williams, the literary agent. ''Little, Brown is a famous imprint with a reputation for very well-edited books," he said. ''This goes to the core of their reputation. They have put others in the line of fire -- retailers, their sales force. All their reputations could have been tarnished." Alloy's role in helping the young author develop the book's concept and plot has provoked controversy among publishing experts. Alloy refused to comment again yesterday, as it has done since last week. Alloy, Little, Brown, and literary agency William Morris insisted that Viswanathan did all the writing in the book. Little, Brown is the publisher of four other young-adult series produced partly by Alloy. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported yesterday that the Record of Bergen County said it will review a dozen or so features that Viswanathan wrote for the 180,000-circulation daily paper in northern New Jersey while an intern in 2003 and 2004.
MUSIC & COPYRIGHT - Canadian musicians denounce suing music fans by CTV.ca May 3, 2006 -- Some of Canada's musical heavyweights want their fans to continue to be able to download songs without the fear of being sued. A group of musicians -- including Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo and Broken Social Scene -- gathered in Toronto on Monday to hammer that message home to federal politicians who have begun to draft new laws to toughen copyright laws. Some of the proposals being thrown around include making it illegal to share music online, which could lead to lawsuits. Artists call the move "destructive and hypocritical." The federal government has been under pressure by lobby groups and major recording labels to introduce tougher legislation and make it illegal to use free downloading sites. The labels want the power to go after high-volume digital music sharers through the courts like their counterparts in the United States, who have filed dozens of lawsuits. Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page said it would be a step in the wrong direction for the Canadian government to follow suit. "For a very long time, we as artists have allowed industry groups to speak on our behalf. We want that time to stop," Page said at a press conference at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. Page said the government hears complaints from big businesses who don't represent the views of musicians. "We need a seat at the table. We need to be part of this copyright legislation when it is drafted," he said. Page was supported by members of the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, a group that includes artists such as Sam Roberts, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Randy Bachman, Billy Talent, Our Lady Peace singer Raine Maida and Sloan. Industry officials, however, argue artists should be compensated for their intellectual property. Graham Henderson, the president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, said the creation of Napster has cost the music industry millions of dollars in retail sales. "For six years, Canadians have freely downloaded movies, books, and music using web-based peer-to-peer software programs," he said at a Canadian Club luncheon in Toronto Monday, which was attended by representatives from the major labels. "There is another road and there are other artists that want to go down it." Henderson said people have turned to legal downloading sites such as iTunes in countries where governments have toughened down on digital music laws. He pointed to a recent study that said digital music sales account for only one per cent of revenue in Canada compared with six per cent in countries such as the U.S. Lobby groups have called on Heritage Minister Beverley Oda to overhaul copyright legislation they call archaic and lagging behind the rest of the world. So far, no timeline has been set for changes to the legislation. The Canadian Recording Industry Association, which represents major labels such as Sony-BMG Canada and Universal Music Canada, have demanded the Conservatives sign international digital music treaties which would make it illegal to swap or burn music files. Page supports current legislation that doesn't allow the government to sue high-volume music sharers. "We would rather see our fans in concert than in court," he said. "We cannot afford to have an adversarial relationship with our fans. New technology affords fans new ways to listen to music. We as artists . . . must adapt to that,'' he said. Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett credited his band's international success to the Internet. "The time and place of a band like Broken Social Scene historically could not have happened without being facilitated by this radical new technology,'' he said. Canadian Musicians Vs. Copyright Laws Ultimate Guitar 01may06 -- Canada's leading musicians, songwriters, and producers are today announcing the creation of A New Voice: The Canadian Music Creators Coalition. The CMCC will ensure that lobbyists for major record labels and music publishers are not the only voices heard in debates about Canada's copyright laws and other key cultural policy issues. The CMCC includes some of the most recognizable names in Canadian music, such as Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo). Here's their statement: "We are a growing coalition of Canadian music creators who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect. "Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let’s be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels’ control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels’ foreign parent companies. "It is the government’s responsibility to protect Canadian artists from exploitation. This requires a firm commitment to programs that support Canadian music talent, and a fresh approach to copyright law reform. Canadian music creators have identified three principles that should guide the copyright reform process. 1. Suing Our Fans Is Destructive And Hypocritical. Artists do not want to sue music fans. The labels have been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names. We oppose any copyright reforms that would make it easier for record companies to do this. The government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to unfairly punish fans who share music for non-commercial purposes with statutory damages of $500 to $20,000 per song. 2. Digital Locks Are Risky And Counterproductive. Artists do not support using digital locks to increase the labels’ control over the distribution, use and enjoyment of music or laws that prohibit circumvention of such technological measures. The government should not blindly implement decade-old treaties designed to give control to major labels and take choices away from artists and consumers. Laws should protect artists and consumers, not restrictive technologies. Consumers should be able to transfer the music they buy to other formats under a right of fair use, without having to pay twice. 3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists.The vast majority of new Canadian music is not promoted by major labels, which focus mostly on foreign artists. The government should use other policy tools to support actual Canadian artists and a thriving musical and cultural scene. The government should make a long-term commitment to grow support mechanisms like the Canada Music Fund and FACTOR, invest in music training and education, create limited tax shelters for copyright royalties, protect artists from inequalities in bargaining power and make collecting societies more transparent." For more information on the coaltion visit www.musiccreators.ca
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MUSIC - Singer Mariah Carey insures her legs for $1Billion by iafica, 31 May 2006 -- Mariah Carey has reportedly insured her legs for a billion dollars ahead of her first US tour in three years. The singer, who enjoyed a massive comeback year in 2005, has recently inked a deal to star in Gillette's 'Legs Of A Goddess' advertising campaign. "The sum reflects her popularity. She's about to start a US tour and she'll have to be careful," a source close to the singer told Britain's Daily Mirror. The insurance will reportedly ensure that she gets the best possible treatment if she injures herself while on tour. But the singer, whose recent 'Emancipation Of Mimi' album followed years of critical and commercial disappointments which reached their nadir with the film 'Glitter', has refused to address the claims.
"I don’t want to talk about money," she said. "But I would say that if your legs were insured for a billion dollars it wouldn’t be the best thing to go around talking about it.” Apart from the tour, Carey, who won three Grammies for her latest album, is also scheduled to star in a film from the producer of 'Monster's Ball'.
COPYRIGHT - Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by governments to regulate the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration. The symbol for copyright is ©, and in some jurisdictions may alternately be written (c).Copyright may subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works". These include poems, theses, plays, and other literary works, movies, choreographic works (dances, ballets, etc.), musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, software, radio and television broadcasts of live and other performances, and in some jurisdictions, industrial designs. Copyright is a type of intellectual property; designs or industrial designs may be a separate or overlapping form of intellectual property in some jurisdictions.Copyright law covers only the particular form or manner in which ideas or information have been manifested, the "form of material expression". It is not designed or intended to cover the actual idea, concepts, facts, styles, or techniques which may be embodied in or represented by the copyright work. Copyright law provides scope for satirical or interpretive works which themselves may be copyrighted. See idea-expression divide.For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorized parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works which copy or mimic Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be imitative of the original. Other laws may impose legal restrictions on reproduction or use where copyright does not - such as trademarks and patents. source: Wikipedia
MUSIC - Music group Sanctuary sacks CEO over finances -- May 26, 2006 LONDON, UK (Reuters) - Sanctuary, the world's biggest independent music company, has sacked Chief Executive Andy Taylor for his handling of financial accounts, after a tumultuous year that sent its shares crashing. "The board's decision to remove Mr. Taylor followed their conclusion that certain of the prior year adjustments made in the 2005 accounts should have been presented as a correction of fundamental errors and not as changes in accounting policy," the company said on Friday. Taylor has been replaced by Frank Presland, CEO of Elton John's management company Twenty-First Artists, which was acquired by London-based Sanctuary last year. Sanctuary, whose artists also include Morrissey and recent Eurovision Song Contest winner Lordi, nearly collapsed earlier this year, with its shares trading at less than a penny. They gained more than 7 percent on Friday, and were up 5.5 percent at 1034 GMT to 48 pence, valuing the company at about 102 million pounds ($190.6 million). Presland, 62, has worked as a solicitor specializing in music and copyright for over 25 years and has advised acts such as the Beatles and Dusty Springfield. He will hold the CEO post for the rest of the year, at which point the position will be reviewed, Sanctuary said. The company said its profit and loss account for the year to September 30, 2005, might be adjusted as a result of certain exceptional items being recognized in prior years. However, it added that no adjustments were needed to its consolidated balance sheet covering the same period.Sanctuary in February unveiled details of a deeply-discounted 110 million pound equity fundraising to help it recover from the costly acquisition of Urban Records from Matthew Knowles, the father of R&B diva Beyonce. After a series of delayed, rescheduled and canceled releases from Urban Records, Sanctuary said earlier this year it would issue no more from the label. Knowles later announced that he and the company had parted ways.
MUSIC - Hip-hop artist Ludacri stars in copyright case by BBC News 25may2006 -- Rappers Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Kanye West have been accused of stealing another artist's music at the New York District Court in Manhattan. New Jersey group IOF say the stars lifted beats and lyrics from one of IOF's songs to produce the Ludacris and West co-written hit Stand Up in 2003. Lawyers played both tracks to the jury, who were seen nodding their heads in time to the Ludacris record. Both rappers are expected to testify at the trial. Key phrase At issue are the words "like that" which appear more than 80 times in both songs. However, IOF use the phrase "straight like that", while in the Ludacris song the phrase appears as "just like that". Lawyer for the defendants, Christine Lepera, criticised the case. "There are scores of songs out there with the words 'like that' with that type of rhythm," she said. "None of you can monopolise certain expressions." The lawyer said that both songs had a simple beat, and clapped her hands to demonstrate the point. "Do you think your three-year-old can do that?" she asked jurors, suggesting that neither recording could claim to have an original rhythm. Promotional copies The IOF song, Straight Like That, was not a hit and only received airplay on a handful of college radio stations in 2001. However, the band's lawyer, Mel Sachs, said Ludacris "had access to the song on numerous occasions". Promotional copies of Straight Like That had been distributed to one of Ludacris' record companies, the lawyer claimed. IOF "put a lot of time and effort into doing this song and then it was taken away from them," he told the jury. Sachs also noted that Ludacris' single had "catapulted" his career, selling more than 500,000 copies. As well as rapping, Ludacris is known for his acting roles in Crash and Hustle and Flow. West, who co-produced the Ludacris song, is one of the most popular producers and rappers in hip-hop. His first two albums, The College Dropout and Late Registration, have sold millions of copies. The trial is expected to last a week and will determine liability. If liability is found, a second phase will assess damages.
FILM - Annual Springtime Cannes Film Festival - Privileged venue of both film discoveries and encounters, the Festival de Cannes reflects the dual nature of the cinema: art and industry. For if the Festival evokes first and foremost the surprise of being selecting and the hope of winning a prize, it is equally the privileged rendez-vous of all motion-picture industry professionals for whom the Marché du Film was first created at the Festival in 1959. As well as being a most special place for film industry professionals to meet, the Festival is especially attentive to the talent of artists who contribute to the growth of the medium. Throughout the years, the Festival has become famed for the balance it has established between artistic quality of films and commercial impact. Not only are the films presented assured a unique and international platform, but the Festival as well reveals and reflects evolution and trends in world cinema while defending the notion of "auteur cinema for wide audiences".
RADIO & COPYRIGHT -- XM Defends Itself to Listeners by RW Newspaper 20may2006 -- XM Satellite Radio sent an explanation of the record label lawsuit against it for alleged copyright infringement to listeners. Titled "Defending the XM Nation," the satcaster describes the lawsuit regarding the Pioneer Inno. XM describes the Inno, Helix and NeXus devices as similar to TiVo, giving users "the ability to enjoy the sports, talk and music programming whenever you want." "The music industry wants to stop your ability to choose when and where you can listen," states XM. "Their lawyers have filed a meritless lawsuit to try and stop you from enjoying these radios." The record labels liken the Inno to a download service because the user can record, store and disaggregate music; therefore, they argue, XM should pay more than it does now for music copyright fees. The satcaster says the new radios complement download services, but don't replace them. "Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like you. It's misguided and wrong. "We will vigorously defend these radios and your right to enjoy them in court and before Congress, and we expect to win."
TV - New Canadian national pay-TV channel okayed - CP May 19, 2006 -- There’s a new player coming to the Canadian pay television market. But the incumbent broadcasters are making it clear that they retain exclusive contracts with major sources of popular U.S. program content and said they will remain the better deal for subscribing viewers. In a surprise ruling Thursday, the CRTC, the federal broadcast regulator, granted a pay TV licence to Allarco Entertainment. The consortium is owned by the Allard broadcast family of Edmonton, which pioneered Pay TV in Canada with the old Superchannel service in the early 1980s but which has been out of the TV business for years. Allarco plans to be up and running with a six-channel pay service and in high definition by early 2007. “Our service responds to a need for something new,” says chairman and CEO Charles Allard. “We have been putting plans into place that will enable us to begin discussions with cable and satellite distributors immediately.” President and COO Malcolm Knox says they expect — eventually at least — to have access to the content of networks like HBO, which deliver favourite shows like The Sopranos, and of the major Hollywood film studios. But Astral Television and Corus Entertainment said their existing services — The Movie Channel in the East and Movie Central in the West respectively — retain exclusive multi-year contracts with those sources south of the border. “They’re not touching exclusivity,” Alain Bergeron, Astral’s vice-president of corporate communications, said about the CRTC decision. Corus officials declined to comment on which U.S. services are under exclusive long-term contracts with them. In response and apparently unprepared to concede that his new service may be contractually locked out of top-rated imports, Knox insisted there’s still programming out there that’s untapped. “The incumbents in the East and West have had the luxury of taking the cream off the top of programming that’s available and they haven’t taken it all. “Do you think that the U.S. studios have entered into contractual relationships that will lock them up for an extended period of time when they know that the potential existed for another licensee in the marketplace?” Meanwhile, the commissioners turned thumbs down on three other applications including Spotlight, submitted by business executives George Burger and Larry Tanenbaum and widely considered in the industry to have been the front-runner for the licence. Also rejected were plans for Boom TV, English and French services proposed by the Archambault Group of Quebec — a division of Quebecor Media — and for The Canadian Film Channel, a service proposed by Channel Zero which now operates the digital specialty channels Moviola and Silver Screen Classics. With a unique twist, The Canadian Film Channel did not want to go head to head with other applicants, but suggested being bundled along with those services as a supplementary offering of all-Canadian movies. But the other applicants were cool to the idea and the commission ultimately turned it down. The CRTC opened public hearings last October for applicants who hoped to break the 22-year-old monopoly on premium television channels in Canada. Not surprisingly, the two existing licensees argued at the hearings that the market could not support a rival and that the public was fully served already. The commission obviously disagreed. “It is appropriate to grant an exception to its policy that generally precludes the licensing of a service that directly competes with existing pay and specialty services,” the CRTC broadcasting decision said. Despite those earlier gloomy warnings, Bergeron now accepts and respects Thursday’s decision and expects the new licensee will increase Canadian programming. Canadian Film Channel president and COO Cal Miller said he is obviously disappointed his bid lost. “I think our application was something that was needed and is needed,” Miller said. “The idea of a place for people to find Canadian films and get to know them is an idea worthy of continuing to look at.” He wished Allarco all the best although he said he cannot figure out the rationale behind the CRTC decision. “On the up side they were — other than us — the most prepared at the hearing, and I think that probably weighed in their favour.” Allarco has promised to dedicate one of its six channels to all-Canadian fare.
FILM - Film executive hired by Telefilm to boost Canadian cinema bows out 18may06 TORONTO (CP) - A Canadian film executive touted as a significant hope for activating the moribund domestic feature film industry will not be able to accept his recently-announced position with Telefilm Canada after all. "Due to unforeseeable circumstances, I have been unable to extricate myself from obligations to the stakeholders and filmmakers involved in my company," says Michael Jenkinson, the CEO of his Los Angeles-based Urban Entertainment media company. The Jamaican-born Jenkinson, also a former 20th Century Fox executive, was announced last month as Telefilm's new feature film executive for Canada's English-language market. The position was created by Telefilm to help boost ticket-buying for Canadian features since the job included responsibility for all major feature investments by the federal cultural agency. As a result of the complications requiring Jenkinson to step down, Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson will resume the responsibilities personally
RADIO -- Canadian Association of Broadcasting: Future of radio tough to predict by CP GATINEAU, Que. -- The Canadian Association of Broadcasting says the future of commercial radio is so uncertain that it needs the federal regulator to make some important concessions to protect its future. And one such change would be an easing of rules on the amount of Canadian music that radio stations must play. The association says radio stations should instead be given extra credits for playing emerging new artists. The request comes as the regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, opens hearings as part of its review of commercial radio regulations. But the idea of relaxing rules doesn't sit well with independent music producers, who want the CRTC to actually increase the Canadian content rules for radio stations. Cori Ferguson of the record production association says such exposure would help launch Canadian musicians onto the world stage. The CRTC hearings, which will continue all week, come as the radio industry is reporting high profits. But it says it's concerned at the growing number of new ways that Canadians can listen to their favourite music and programming besides traditional radio outlets. Already satellite radio, the Internet, and even personal devices such as the IPod are providing serious competition. And, says the broadcasting association, there's no way of predicting what other competition will arise in the next few years.
MUSIC - Bob Marley bass player loses royalty lawsuit by Adam Pasick LONDON (Reuters) - Aston "Familyman" Barrett, the bass player for Bob Marley and the Wailers, has lost a 60 million pound lawsuit over royalties and song-writing credits that pitted him against Island Records and the Marley family. Barrett, who received his nickname for fathering 52 children, testified that he and his brother Carlton "Carly" Barrett, a drummer for the reggae band who was murdered in 1985, did not receive the money they were due following Marley's death from cancer in 1981. But Mr Justice Kim Lewison dismissed the suit in a ruling at London's High Court on Monday, a move welcomed by Marley's widow Rita and her family. "We always felt this would be the outcome, and it was hard to listen to Aston Barrett reduce his friend Bob to someone who was more interested in playing football than making music," the family said in a statement. Barrett will be liable for court costs and may be forced to sell two properties in Jamaica as a result of the ruling. The Barrett brothers played on numerous albums by Bob Marley and the Wailers, including "Natty Dread", "Rastaman Vibration" and "Babylon by Bus". The judge dismissed their claim to have written several of the band's songs including "War" and "Them Belly Full." During the trial, Rita Marley and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell played down the contributions of the brothers and said Aston Barrett surrendered his right to further royalties in a 1994 agreement that paid him several hundred thousand dollars. "There is, in my judgement, no reason to decline to enforce the settlement agreement against Mr Aston Barrett," Mr Justice Lewison said in his ruling.
Island Records is part of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, and a unit of France's Vivendi.
MUSIC - Universal Settles Pay-to-Play Case by Natalie Finn, May 11, 2006 -- The world's largest record company is ready to give back after being accused of giving too much. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced Thursday that Universal Music Group has agreed to a $12 million settlement in the payola case against the company, which stated that the label gave vacations, gifts and other "outright bribes" to radio stations to ensure airtime for artists such as Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and Brian McKnight. The $12 million is going to the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which will dole the money out to various New York nonprofits. Universal will also shell out $100,000 to cover the cost of the investigation and promote further music industry reforms. While Universal copped to "various employees and independent promoters acting on behalf of the company" behaving inappropriately, the label itself has not admitted guilt in the matter. "We have been working cooperatively with the attorney general's office in resolving these promotion issues and are pleased to have completed the process with this agreement," Universal said in a statement. "The reforms that we have agreed to with the attorney general are consistent with the policies that we voluntarily implemented over a year ago." The record company has agreed to stop all illegal payments as well as the hiring of independent promoters who provided the incentives to radio stations. Universal will also bring a compliance officer onboard to regulate promotional campaigns. Papers filed by Spitzer in New York State Supreme Court alongside the settlement deal still points the finger at the label as a whole, however. Universal comprises Island Def Jam, Interscope, Universal Motown Recordings and Verve Music Group, among others. "UMG has illegally provided radio stations with financial benefits to obtain airplay and boost the chart position of its songs," Spitzer stated. "UMG has obtained airplay for its songs through such deceptive and illegal practices as bribing radio station employees, on occasion, to play UMG songs, providing a stream of financial benefits to radio stations, to assist with stations' overhead costs or to provide promotional support, on condition that UMG records receive airplay." New York's top legal honcho also accused the company, which holds nearly 26 percent of the world's music market and sells one out of every three albums bought in the United States, of using interns and other employees to run fake call-in campaigns to increase the number of times a song hit the airwaves. Shady dealings Universal was accused of include putting up a WFLY-FM program director in a Miami hotel in 2003 and 2004 in return for adding McKnight's "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda" and a Nick Lachey song to the station's playlist. The aforementioned WFLY employee also reportedly scored Yankees tickets for spinning the Lachey tune. We know what you're thinking. Nick Lachey put out a song in 2004? Spitzer also said that, in July 2004, Island Def Jam paid employees $3,500 for six weeks to run a phony call-in campaign to boost airplay for Ashanti's "Rain on Me." According to the attorney general, WGCI-FM in Chicago and WQHT in New York received 25 calls apiece during the first two weeks and 40 calls were made to those two stations and a handful of others in the next four weeks. Island Def Jam also hired people to hype Ludacris' "Stand Up" at stations in Buffalo, Rochester and elsewhere in New York, Spitzer said. "Consumers have a right not to be misled about the way in which the music they hear on the radio is selected," Spitzer told reporters. "Pay-for-play makes a mockery of claims that only the 'best' or 'most popular' music is broadcast." Spitzer, currently the Democratic frontrunner in this year's race for New York governor, has had the music industry quaking in its boots since taking over the attorney general's office in 1998 and becoming a vigilant defender of artists' rights and fair business dealings. His widespread subpoenas have uncovered a number of dirty dealings. After launching an investigation into alleged illegal activity among record labels and radio stations, Sony BMG agreed to halt further illegal radio promotions and settled for $10 million in July 2005. The agreement prohibits Sony employees from passing out gifts valued at more than $150 to radio stations. Warner Music Group agreed to a $5 million settlement in November. Spitzer sued Entercom Communications Corp. earlier this year, accusing the media firm of trading cash for airplay, and Entercom has denied the charges and nixed the idea of a $20 million fine. A two-year investigation into music labels' accounting practices also turned up misplaced funds-- Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI, BMG and Warner Music ended up joining forces in 2004 to locate artists they may have stiffed on royalty payments. The unpaid royalties amounted to more than $50 million. Any unaccounted for money was to go to the state. Spitzer is also currently investigating the U.K.'s EMI Group, home to Virgin Records, Apple Records and a long list of niche labels. The Dirty Harry of the music biz issued subpoenas earlier this year to radio giants Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio Inc., Entercom and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. to investigate charges that they accepted goodies like flat-screen TVs and cash in exchange for showing certain songs special attention. To Spitzer's consternation, the FCC has started informal negotiations to settle with these companies. Spitzer told the Los Angeles Times last month that federal regulators were going behind his back and could undercut his efforts to really make a difference in how the music industry conducts itself. "The radio conglomerates want to settle on the cheap with the Feds and unfortunately the FCC, contrary to good public policy, has not pursued an investigation of the underlying facts," he said.
RADIO - Howard Stern won't return from satellite by L.McShane, Associated Press MAY. 10, 2006 -- No censorship, no fines, no Federal Communications Commission. It's no wonder Howard Stern announced that there's no way he would abandon satellite radio for a return to traditional broadcasting. "I'm very flattered terrestrial radio can't let go of me," Stern said Wednesday on his morning radio show. "But I would throw up if I had to go back. I'm never going back." The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" said three companies had made overtures through his agent for a terrestrial deal, but there was no interest from his end. He did not name the companies, although radio industry expert Tom Taylor said it was no surprise that Stern would draw such attention. "He's a terrific talent, and star talent is always going to be in demand," said Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.Stern, five months into a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., said he was thrilled by the show's evolution since his January arrival. When Stern announced his move in October 2004, Sirius had about 650,000 subscribers. That figure now stands above 4 million. "I've never been happier," Stern said. "We're flying high and doing great." Stern made his comments during an on-air interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. He insisted on speaking with the AP about the reports that he might consider a simulcasting deal where he split time between Sirius and a traditional outlet. Stern competitors Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia recently made such an agreement with CBS Radio. Stern worked for CBS before making his move to satellite in January. CBS was once part of Viacom Inc. but now is part of CBS Corp. Stern said that Opie and Anthony's return to traditional radio signified their "failure" on satellite, and he reiterated his intent to continue his program exclusively on satellite. "The story is I wouldn't do it (terrestrial radio) for any reason," Stern said. "Not for money. I left because I couldn't stand the censorship. I couldn't stand" the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC and Stern were locked in a long, pitched battle that led to staggering fines for the content of the shock jock's show. Opie and Anthony, on their morning show, continued their long-running feud with Stern by questioning his claims. "He's lying through his teeth," said Hughes about any offers for Stern to come back on terrestrial radio. On Tuesday, the New York Post identified one of the potential bidders for Stern as Citadel Broadcasting Corp., whose chief executive, Farid Suleman, worked with Stern for several years at Infinity Broadcasting until his departure for Citadel in March 2002. Calls to Citadel for comment were not immediately returned.
MUSIC - Downloading dispute intensifies in Ottawa by G.Dixon, Globe & Mail, 10may2006 Toronto -- The lobbying campaign for new copyright legislation continues to heat up in Ottawa, with the recently created Canadian Music Creators Coalition announcing that it met yesterday with both Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, along with rounds of meetings with opposition heritage critics. The musicians' coalition opposes attempts to tighten digital locks preventing home copying or efforts to sue people who share music for non-commercial purposes. Meanwhile, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), representing the major labels, has said that it is in talks with Ottawa, as it pushes for tighter controls.
MUSIC & Trademark - Apple vs. Apple: Beatles' Apple loses suit -- go to BEATLES section of this blog
TV - In a First, Warner Bros. to Let Local TV Put Sitcom on Web by B.Barnes, Wall Street Journal May 8, 2006 -- In a groundbreaking move for the TV industry, Warner Bros. will allow local TV stations that buy reruns of the comedy "Two and a Half Men" to stream the episodes on their Web sites. The initiative is the first time local TV stations will share in the migration of TV shows onto the Internet. In recent weeks, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and CBS Corp. have taken steps to stream some of their prime-time programs online, hoping to capture some of the ad revenue moving to the Internet. Affiliated stations are angry because they aren't yet getting a share of online revenue and they fear the networks' streaming could erode their own audiences. Warner Bros.' move is also a sign that the TV industry is beginning a broader embrace of digital technologies. Major TV studios have been reluctant to allow hit shows to be streamed online for fear it would cannibalize the money they make from sale of reruns or DVDs. The only exceptions have been in cases where studios and networks fall under the same corporate umbrella, which was the case with ABC. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., is the biggest supplier of primetime shows to the major networks. The move is sure to have ripple effects. Once "Two and a Half Men" reruns are available on station Web sites, other shows sold into the rerun syndication market -- think "Friends" and "Seinfeld" -- may follow. Bruce Rosenblum, president of Warner Bros. Television Group, said the studio would evaluate allowing streaming on a case-by-case basis. "The advertising industry is insisting on including the Internet as a component of their on-air buys," Mr. Rosenblum said. "This is a way for local stations to dramatically enhance the value of their broadband offerings." Warner Bros. will benefit as well. The studio will likely be able to charge stations more for the reruns of "Two and a Half Men" than it might have otherwise. The sitcom, which stars Jon Crier and Charlie Sheen, is a hit but not on the same scale as the broad family programs such as "Everybody Loves Raymond" that typically do well in the rerun syndication market. Stations that buy "Two and a Half Men" will share their online ad revenue with Warner Bros on a 50-50 basis. Warner Bros. said it will also control how the episodes are streamed to protect against piracy and to limit viewing by certain geographical area. Mr. Rosenblum's plans call for stations to stream five episodes of "Two and a Half Men" on their Web sites at a time; the episodes will consist of the previous week's five aired installments. The episodes will be free, available on demand and supported by advertising. A 15-second video commercial that can't be skipped will run at the beginning of each episode.
TV & Copyright -- C-SPAN and copyright by Seattle Post 06may2006 -- What is C-SPAN and are its telecasts are protected by copyright? The key points: C-SPAN television is a private, non-profit corporation funded by the cable industry -- not a government-funded operation as is often believed -- and very little of its programming is actually in the public domain. Almost all of it is copyrighted.
ART - Haircare magnate pays $150m for Picasso 'Shrek' portrait by New Zealand Herald 05may2006 NEW YORK -- An unflattering portrait of one of Picasso's most celebrated lovers, artist Dora Maar, has sold for US$95.2 million ($149 million) at a Sotheby's auction in New York, the second-highest auction price paid for an artwork. The 1941 Dora Maar au Chat transforms the visage of his glamorous girlfriend into a female Shrek. Despite its overt misogyny, the eye-catching portrait almost doubled its presale estimate of US$50 million. The unidentified buyer, seated in the back of the salesroom, outbid several phone bidders. The seller was a member of the Gitwitz family, which made its fortune from Helene Curtis hair products. Maar has talon-like fingernails in the painting, a 120cm by 90cm canvas with a profusion of colours including green, red, orange and purple. "It's a very handsome painting and I like the way the hands are painted," Picasso biographer John Richardson said before the sale. The most expensive artwork ever sold at auction was Picasso's Boy with a Pipe, which fetched US$104 million at Sotheby's in 2004.Richardson called the Maar painting "more commercially saleable" than the more abstract portrait of Picasso's first wife, ballerina Olga Khokhlova, that sold for US$34.7 million this week at Christie's International in New York.
MUSIC - Warner Music rejects EMI bid by AFP 04 May 2006 -- British music group EMI revealed on Wednesday that it made a $4.2-billion (€3.3-billion) takeover approach to Warner Music which was snubbed by its US rival. A combination of EMI and Warner would create the world's third-biggest music company and would count Coldplay, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Eminem and Scissor Sisters among its roster of artists. In its third tilt at its US peer since the start of the decade, EMI said it tabled a cash-and-shares offer priced at 28.50 dollars per share for Warner Music on Monday — only to see its approach rebuffed the following day. EMI Group confirms that on 1 May 2006 it made an approach to Warner Music Group Corp," the group said in an official statement that was issued to the London Stock Exchange in response to recent press speculation. Looking for the right price - However, EMI added that it remained interested in a deal at the right price. "The board of EMI continues to believe that an acquisition of Warner Music by EMI would be very attractive to both sets of shareholders," the record company said. In a separate statement, Warner Music confirmed that its unanimous rejection of the preliminary approach. "The Warner Music Group Corp board of directors has carefully evaluated the proposal in conjunction with the company's outside legal and financial advisors," the US group said. "The board has determined that the proposal is not in the best interests of our shareholders and has unanimously rejected it." EMI and Warner Music are the world's third and fourth-largest record labels behind Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony BMG, and a tie-up would have brought the Virgin, Atlantic and Capitol music labels under one roof. A proposed merger of the two companies was knocked back by European regulators at the start of the decade due to concerns over reduced competition in the record industry. However, the boom in music downloads and a consequent slump in CD sales has sparked a wave of consolidation, putting a marriage of EMI and Warner Music back on the agenda.
ART -- The $45m smile of friend who betrayed Van Gogh by Will Bennett Telegraph New York -- Marie Ginoux, a cafe owner in the French town of Arles, was apparently one of the few to befriend Vincent Van Gogh but had the troubled artist known the truth he might have portrayed her less flatteringly. In 1890, just months before his suicide, Van Gogh painted L'Arlésienne, Madame Ginoux, which sold for $45 million at Christie's in New York on Tuesday. While Van Gogh, who sold only one picture during his lifetime, would be astonished at the prices that his paintings now fetch, he would be equally surprised to learn the truth about Madame Ginoux. Although she and her husband, Joseph, appeared to be among the painter's few friends in Arles, in reality they were supporters of a campaign to have him locked up. New research by Martin Gayford, the writer and art historian, has revealed that Joseph Ginoux was one of the main witnesses supporting Van Gogh's detention at a tribunal examining the artist's mental health. Van Gogh was bitter about the campaign, deciding to pre-empt it by voluntarily entering a mental hospital, but did not know that the Ginoux family were involved. He painted the picture, which sold at Christie's to an anonymous bidder, while in hospital and portrayed her as a sensitive, intelligent person with books, one of them Charles Dickens's Christmas Stories, in front of her. The painting was one of a series planned by Van Gogh as a tribute to his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin. The two men collaborated in Arles until they quarrelled violently and Van Gogh attacked his friend with a razor before severing his own ear. This picture was intended as a present for Gauguin, perhaps as an apology, but was never given to him and, for the past 77 years, has been owned by an American family who sold it on Tuesday. It fetched the highest price of the night at Christie's second ever biggest sale of Impressionist and modern art, which totalled £98.5 million. The next most expensive picture, Pablo Picasso's Le Repos, was also the product of a troubled relationship. It portrays Picasso's fiery first wife, the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, and was bought for almost $40 million for a client by the New York art dealer Larry Gagosian. It is one of three paintings produced by Picasso in three days in 1932, which were intended to show the difference between his temperamental wife and his relaxed mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The painting had remained in the possession of the Picasso family and was sold by the artist's grandson, Bernard. Another Picasso, a rare Blue Period picture from 1902 called Portrait de Germaine, was bought for $20 million.
Books & Copyright - Harvard novelist's book deal canceled: More signs emerge of duplications by David Mehegan, Boston Globe Staff, May 3, 2006 -- Kaavya Viswanathan's publisher canceled her two-book contract yesterday, killing a short-lived plan to scrub the plagiarism from the Harvard sophomore's debut novel and reissue it. The announcement came amid new reports of passages in Viswanathan's novel, ''How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," that appeared to have been borrowed from two other authors. Last week Viswanathan admitted borrowing from two of Megan McCafferty's books but said she did so unintentionally after unconsciously ''internalizing" McCafferty's work. ''Little, Brown and Company will not be publishing a revised edition of 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,' nor will we publish the second book under contract," senior vice president and publisher Michael Pietsch said in a one-sentence statement. A spokeswoman said Little, Brown would have no further comment. Cancellation of an already-published book is rare. In 2003, Alfred A. Knopf took Michael Bellesiles's prize-winning ''Arming America" out of print after the historian was found to have falsified his research and was forced to resign from Emory University. The book had been a best-seller in hardcover and had gone into paperback when it was canceled. By contrast, ''Opal Mehta" was barely off the press when Little, Brown last week recalled as many as 50,000 unsold copies of the novel, which was published April 4. The 19-year-old writer admitted borrowing, in some cases verbatim, passages from McCafferty's ''Sloppy Firsts" and ''Second Helpings." New signs of plagiarism surfaced yesterday, apparently as a result of e-mails and Internet chat from fans of the young-adult authors Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot. The online edition of the Harvard Crimson cited a near-duplication of a passage from Cabot's 2000 best-seller, ''The Princess Diaries," which was made into a movie. The New York Times reported yesterday that Viswanathan apparently also borrowed heavily from Kinsella's ''Can You Keep a Secret?" Before the allegations of plagiarism emerged 10 days ago, Viswanathan was being hailed as a phenomenon. ''Opal Mehta" had a first printing of 100,000 copies, and Viswanathan had received a two-novel contract worth $500,000 at age 17, a month after arriving at Harvard. In an interview with the Globe in January, she said she wrote most of the book during her freshman year. The plagiarism scandal initially fueled sales of ''Opal Mehta." In pulling the book last Thursday, Little, Brown announced it intended to relaunch the book at a future date, purged of the similarities to the McCafferty book. But publishing lawyers yesterday said that, in light of the new revelations, the publisher had to back away from Viswanathan altogether. ''Whether she did it on purpose or not, there was no way to feel comfortable relaunching the book," said John Taylor Williams, a literary agent and veteran publishing lawyer who in the past has represented Little, Brown. ''There was no floor to this. It was freefall. The risk of having another group of readers identify other sources is too great." Viswanathan, who has not responded to the Globe's repeated requests for an interview, did not return a call to her cellphone yesterday. In a appearance on NBC's Today program last week, she said she was taking time off from Harvard. A Harvard spokesman last week said the university was looking into the plagiarism allegations, though it is not clear the school could do anything, since the novel is unrelated to her studies. Canceling the book may reduce Little, Brown's legal liability in any copyright infringement suit but doesn't eliminate it, said Jonathan Kirsch, a Los Angeles author and publishing lawyer. In boilerplate language in publishing contracts -- including those used routinely by Little, Brown, which is a division of Time-Warner -- authors certify that their work is original and does not trespass on anyone's legal rights, including copyright. Even so, Kirsch said, ''the publisher is plainly at risk. The fact that the publisher published, distributed, and sold the book constitutes infringement. Pulling the book off the shelves may have stopped an infringement suit but doesn't make the previous infringement go away." McCafferty has expressed satisfaction with Little, Brown's pulling the book and said she would seek no restitution. Random House, whose imprints published both McCafferty's books and Kinsella's, declined to comment about the new allegations, as did HarperCollins, Cabot's publisher. A Globe examination of the Viswanathan and Cabot books yesterday uncovered several more passages that appeared to be reproduced almost exactly. A passage on page 128 of ''The Princess Diaries" reads: ''And it is sort of hard when all these beautiful, fashionable people are telling you how good you'd look in this and how much that would bring out your cheekbones. . . . And I kept telling myself, She's only doing this because she loves you. . . ." Page 58 of ''Opal Mehta" reads: ''In my defense, it was hard to be uptight and prickly while surrounded by beautiful, fashionable people all telling me how good I'd look in that shade and what this color would do to enhance my cheekbones." It was unclear yesterday whether Viswanathan or Alloy Entertainment, the so-called ''book packager" that holds the copyright on ''Opal Mehta" jointly with her, would have to return whatever portion of the advance they received. For Little, Brown, recovering its advance is probably less pressing than protecting its reputation, said Williams, the literary agent. ''Little, Brown is a famous imprint with a reputation for very well-edited books," he said. ''This goes to the core of their reputation. They have put others in the line of fire -- retailers, their sales force. All their reputations could have been tarnished." Alloy's role in helping the young author develop the book's concept and plot has provoked controversy among publishing experts. Alloy refused to comment again yesterday, as it has done since last week. Alloy, Little, Brown, and literary agency William Morris insisted that Viswanathan did all the writing in the book. Little, Brown is the publisher of four other young-adult series produced partly by Alloy. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported yesterday that the Record of Bergen County said it will review a dozen or so features that Viswanathan wrote for the 180,000-circulation daily paper in northern New Jersey while an intern in 2003 and 2004.
MUSIC & COPYRIGHT - Canadian musicians denounce suing music fans by CTV.ca May 3, 2006 -- Some of Canada's musical heavyweights want their fans to continue to be able to download songs without the fear of being sued. A group of musicians -- including Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo and Broken Social Scene -- gathered in Toronto on Monday to hammer that message home to federal politicians who have begun to draft new laws to toughen copyright laws. Some of the proposals being thrown around include making it illegal to share music online, which could lead to lawsuits. Artists call the move "destructive and hypocritical." The federal government has been under pressure by lobby groups and major recording labels to introduce tougher legislation and make it illegal to use free downloading sites. The labels want the power to go after high-volume digital music sharers through the courts like their counterparts in the United States, who have filed dozens of lawsuits. Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page said it would be a step in the wrong direction for the Canadian government to follow suit. "For a very long time, we as artists have allowed industry groups to speak on our behalf. We want that time to stop," Page said at a press conference at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. Page said the government hears complaints from big businesses who don't represent the views of musicians. "We need a seat at the table. We need to be part of this copyright legislation when it is drafted," he said. Page was supported by members of the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, a group that includes artists such as Sam Roberts, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Randy Bachman, Billy Talent, Our Lady Peace singer Raine Maida and Sloan. Industry officials, however, argue artists should be compensated for their intellectual property. Graham Henderson, the president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, said the creation of Napster has cost the music industry millions of dollars in retail sales. "For six years, Canadians have freely downloaded movies, books, and music using web-based peer-to-peer software programs," he said at a Canadian Club luncheon in Toronto Monday, which was attended by representatives from the major labels. "There is another road and there are other artists that want to go down it." Henderson said people have turned to legal downloading sites such as iTunes in countries where governments have toughened down on digital music laws. He pointed to a recent study that said digital music sales account for only one per cent of revenue in Canada compared with six per cent in countries such as the U.S. Lobby groups have called on Heritage Minister Beverley Oda to overhaul copyright legislation they call archaic and lagging behind the rest of the world. So far, no timeline has been set for changes to the legislation. The Canadian Recording Industry Association, which represents major labels such as Sony-BMG Canada and Universal Music Canada, have demanded the Conservatives sign international digital music treaties which would make it illegal to swap or burn music files. Page supports current legislation that doesn't allow the government to sue high-volume music sharers. "We would rather see our fans in concert than in court," he said. "We cannot afford to have an adversarial relationship with our fans. New technology affords fans new ways to listen to music. We as artists . . . must adapt to that,'' he said. Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett credited his band's international success to the Internet. "The time and place of a band like Broken Social Scene historically could not have happened without being facilitated by this radical new technology,'' he said. Canadian Musicians Vs. Copyright Laws Ultimate Guitar 01may06 -- Canada's leading musicians, songwriters, and producers are today announcing the creation of A New Voice: The Canadian Music Creators Coalition. The CMCC will ensure that lobbyists for major record labels and music publishers are not the only voices heard in debates about Canada's copyright laws and other key cultural policy issues. The CMCC includes some of the most recognizable names in Canadian music, such as Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo). Here's their statement: "We are a growing coalition of Canadian music creators who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect. "Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let’s be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels’ control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels’ foreign parent companies. "It is the government’s responsibility to protect Canadian artists from exploitation. This requires a firm commitment to programs that support Canadian music talent, and a fresh approach to copyright law reform. Canadian music creators have identified three principles that should guide the copyright reform process. 1. Suing Our Fans Is Destructive And Hypocritical. Artists do not want to sue music fans. The labels have been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names. We oppose any copyright reforms that would make it easier for record companies to do this. The government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to unfairly punish fans who share music for non-commercial purposes with statutory damages of $500 to $20,000 per song. 2. Digital Locks Are Risky And Counterproductive. Artists do not support using digital locks to increase the labels’ control over the distribution, use and enjoyment of music or laws that prohibit circumvention of such technological measures. The government should not blindly implement decade-old treaties designed to give control to major labels and take choices away from artists and consumers. Laws should protect artists and consumers, not restrictive technologies. Consumers should be able to transfer the music they buy to other formats under a right of fair use, without having to pay twice. 3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists.The vast majority of new Canadian music is not promoted by major labels, which focus mostly on foreign artists. The government should use other policy tools to support actual Canadian artists and a thriving musical and cultural scene. The government should make a long-term commitment to grow support mechanisms like the Canada Music Fund and FACTOR, invest in music training and education, create limited tax shelters for copyright royalties, protect artists from inequalities in bargaining power and make collecting societies more transparent." For more information on the coaltion visit www.musiccreators.ca
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