FEBRUARY 2007
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MUSIC - SONYBMG & EMI Cuts Continue 28feb07 -- EMI has laid off an undisclosed number of employees in its EMI Canada unit, sources familiar with the situation confirm.The move is part of the label's North American restructuring efforts, which have already seen the merger of EMI's Capitol and Virgin imprints, as well as a reorganization of its independent distribution arm, Caroline.The layoffs in Canada impacted label staff as well as manufacturing and distribution employees.A first wave of notifications went out last week, additional pink slips were handed out today. The Toronto headquarters of Sony BMG Music Canada closed Monday (Feb. 19) as an estimated 35-40 employees were dismissed.According to sources, staffers were notified late last week that the head office would be closed and that all positions were under review. The office opened "as usual" for business today (Feb. 20).The layoffs come a week after two top level executives departed the company -- Norman Miller, VP of digital business, IS&T and marketing services and Christine (CJ) Prudham, VP of legal and business affairs - and a month after Sony BMG Music Canada president Lisa Zbitnew was suddenly ousted Jan. 15.After Zbitnew's quick exit, Sony BMG Music named Shane Carter and Neil Foster Sony BMG Music Canada co-presidents.In an email response to Billboard about their firings, Sony BMG Music Canada co-president Shane Carter wrote "no comment" regarding a confirmation of the staffers let go.Despite speculation of the pending dismissals, many Canadian music industry vets were shocked by the move. "I can understand they had to drop some people but to do it in such a manner was disgusting," says a retail music buyer. "If this is an example of this new administration, I'd almost rather not do business with them."According to Nielsen Entertainment Sony BMG Canada's market share year to date is 19.3% compared to 11.6% for EMI; 12.9% for Warner; and 37.7% for market leader Universal Music.In the past year, the company's domestic roster has been downsized with such promising singer/songwriters as Liam Titcomb and Jeremy Fisher and pop rapper Shawn Desman being dropped. Last week rock band The Trews left the fold after a licensing deal with Bumstead Records in Toronto wasn't renewed.Still remaining on the Canadian roster are such top level acts as Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Keisha Chante.
COPYRIGHT - MySpace, YouTube Jump On Copyright Protection Bandwagon by Reuters 27feb07 -- It's vaguely reminiscent of the days that began the downfall of the P2P phenomenon. Last week's announcement by YouTube that they will use the services of Audible Magic to prevent unauthorized media from being used on their site is another sign that the wild west days of seeing anything and everything on YouTube are slowly winding down. Audible Magic provides a fingerprint technology that allows copyrighted music and videos to be identified at the point of being put on the YouTube or MySpace site, eliminating the need (for the most part) for these guys to patrol their site for unauthorized content. Which presents a strange dilemma. How does YouTube continue to be YouTube when the whole reason most of their audience comes to their site is to see the stuff that becomes contraband? "We are definitely committed to (offering copyright protection technologies). It is one of the company's highest priorities," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. I guess this is what happens when sites like MySpace and YouTube move beyond the underground and into the mainstream, they need to legitimize, or they'll either go broke fighting it in court or even worse, having to pay fines. So where can they go? Becoming legit. They put in place copyright filters, start talking about sharing revenue (because paying for use of a copyright is the heart of a copyright), and take the next step forward. This is only the latest stage in the back and forth tennis match of protection technology and people that will try to hack it. Ask any virus protection company about how much time and money they spend on staying up to date with the latest threats and you'll realize that it's a never-ending task. They've started rocky discussions with recording labels and big media companies over revenue-sharing agreements, which may be the only way for YouTube to go forward with the use of copyrighted material on their site.
BOOKS - Black launches libel suit against biographer Feb. 20 2007 CTV News -- Conrad Black has launched an $11-million libel suit against Tom Bower, the author of 'Conrad & Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge', calling him "vindictive, high-handed, contemptuous, sadistic, pathologically mendacious and malicious." Black alleges in his statement of claim that Bower's 436-page book is "evil and devoid of any redeeming or even mitigating qualities," reports the Globe and Mail. He also alleges that Bower's book portrays his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, as "grasping, hectoring, slatternly, extravagant, shrill and a harridan." The 43-page lawsuit, filed in a Toronto court last week, says Black has suffered damage from the book that includes "hatred, ridicule and contempt." Bower's book was released last September in Canada and Britain. It was also released in the U.S., under the title 'Outrageous Fortune: The Rise and Ruin of Conrad and Lady Black'. Since the release, Black has not been shy about attacking the book. In an article in London's Sunday Telegraph last October, Black said Bower's "key-hole, smut-mongering side-piece portrayal of my wife as a man-eating sex maniac prior to her marriage to me is disgusting." Last week Black told the Globe that he was going to file "the mother of all libel statements of claim." In the suit, Black mentions more than 50 examples of alleged inaccuracies and defamatory statements in the book. In one example cited by the Globe, Black alleges that Bower falsely describes him as "a religious hypocrite or crank who delusionally imagines conversations with God in which he believes he receives reassurances about the divine acceptability of illegal and immoral actions." Black also takes issue with Bower's description of Amiel Black as "a Nazi apologist" who is "barbarously rude to domestic staff." "She is falsely accused of flying to London to have lunch with former U.S. president (George H. W.) Bush and generally of being a domineering, vulgar, obsessively materialistic and altogether repulsive personality,'' alleges the suit. Black also names the publisher of the book, Harper & Collins Books of Canada Ltd., in the suit. London-based Bower, who has written other controversial biographies, has faced lawsuits in the past. He wrote two biographies about British newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991, and received a similar response. "Robert Maxwell sued me many times and look what happened to him,'' Bower wrote the Globe in an email. In response, Black wrote in another email: "I'm not concerned with his reaction; he's gambling on a verdict in Chicago that is almost impossible to be obtained... I'm looking forward to his interrogation under oath." Black goes on trial in Chicago in March to defend himself against allegations that he and three other executives of Hollinger International Inc. took more than US$80 million out of the company. Black and the other executives have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
BOOKS & COPYRIGHT - Court Upholds Copyright Law on 'Orphan Works' NewsMax.com WiresTuesday, Jan. 23, 2007 -- A U.S. appeals court has rejected a bid by Internet activists to roll back federal laws that extended copyright protection over orphan works, or books and other media that are no longer in print. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss Kahle v. Gonzales, which argued that legal changes made in the 1990s had vastly extended copyright protections at the expense of free speech rights. Orphaned works are a hot-button issue for the publishing industry, which has resisted efforts by Web companies Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and the Internet Archive -- working with major academic libraries -- to scan orphaned and out-of-copyright works to make them available for free on the Web. Prior to 1978, the number of orphaned copyright works was limited by requirements that intellectual property holders renew their rights within a certain period of years. Otherwise ownership of these works would pass into the public domain. Amendments to U.S. copyright law in the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1992 made renewal registration optional, rather than mandatory, in order to preserve copyrights. A 1998 amendment further extended the renewal term to 67 years. Critics of the changes had mocked the law as an effort to prolong Walt Disney Co.'s copyright hold over Mickey Mouse.
MUSIC - How Your Music Makes Money… Internationally SOCAN The Right Note, Winter 2007 Edition -- In 2005, SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) distributed $42-million in royalties received from foreign performing rights organizations (PROs), representing 23 percent of the total royalties distributed, which is clear evidence that Canadian music creators are enjoying record success on the world stage. SOCAN, through reciprocal agreements with affiliated PROs around the globe, At this time, Socan has agreements with more than 75 affiliated PROs, which are busy licensing the performances of member works in their territories. SOCAN enjoys excellent working relationships with its international affiliated PROs and is constantly in touch in order to proactively pursue claims on behalf of SOCAN members. PROs obtain information on SOCAN repertoire through various internationally accessible databases, such as CIS Net (operated by CISAC on behalf of its member organizations), FastTrack, AVI (Audio Visual Index) and WID (Works Identification Database), which are updated on a regular basis. SOCAN members themselves are kept up to date through online international trending reports and pre- and post-distribution information, now available in the member-secure area of www.socan.ca. Who pays what? Some PROs provide complete details on performances included in their international distributions to SOCAN, such as number and type (radio, broadcast or cable TV, concert) of performances. Others provide very little detail to complement the funds transferred to SOCAN. Some calculate performance royalties according to a census (both ASCAP and BMI in the U.S., for example, limit their concert distributions to the 200 top-grossing concert tours), while others conduct scientifically devised samples. SOCAN members will find a chart in the members’ secure section at www.socan.ca, summarizing dozens of international PROs with respect to distribution frequency and types of distributions covered
TV - Quebec TV producers say feds should give television fund a loan by Rollande Parent, Canadian Press 08feb2007 -- MONTREAL (CP) - Quebec television producers say the federal government should give the Canadian Television Fund an interest-free loan matching sums withheld by cable distributors Shaw Communications and Videotron until they pay up. Claire Samson, of the Quebec association of film and television producers, said Tuesday this would save the next season of TV production. She said it would also prevent producers from being held hostage by various television professionals including techicians, directors, writers and their unions. "If this situation is not resolved within two weeks, the machine will peter out," she said. "The government, the CRTC and the public must understand." In the last two months, both Shaw and Quebecor-owned Videotron have suspended their contributions to the fund and called for a serious review into how it is managed. Samson said Videotron and Shaw, whose licences are regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, should face fines if they do not pay into the fund by the end of the broadcasting year. She said she feared that other distributors, such as Rogers, Bell or Cogeco, could follow the lead of Shaw and Videotron, which would cause a severe drop in non-news TV production. The Canadian Television Fund has an annual budget of $250 million, of which $100 million comes from the government and the remainder from cable distributors, who turn over five per cent of their gross revenues. About thirty-seven per cent of its funding goes to programming by the CBC and its French-language network, Radio-Canada, which in Quebec is the main competitor to Quebecor-owned TVA. Samson accused Videotron of trying to weaken Radio-Canada to obtain more financing for its own in-house productions. In a letter sent last month to Douglas Barrett, the fund's chairman, Quebecor CEO and president Pierre Karl Peladeau expressed "deep dissatisfaction with the fund's governance, performance and direction." He complained that "fund managers pay little heed to the main private-sector contributors to the fund and give little consideration to their point of view in decision-making. "We fully intend to continue being a leading contributor to the financing of Canadian production but we have decided to withhold our monthly contributions to the Canadian Television Fund until significant changes are made to its management and direction," Peladeau said in the letter. Videotron contributed $14.3 million to the fund in 2005, Quebecor has said. The fund has said it invested about $264 million in Canadian programming in its 2005-2006 year.
TV & INTERNET - Viacom wants its content taken off YouTube: company wants to be paid when its videos are posted on YouTube, calling into question the ties between big media and new media. by Dawn C. Chmielewski, NYTimes Feb3, 2007 -- Viacom Inc.'s demand Friday that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips from the popular online video site is more than brinksmanship at the bargaining table.It's a battle of the brands. The entertainment conglomerate's insistence that YouTube remove such coveted content as highlights from "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" signals that it believes these brands have enough cachet to attract an online audience, with or without YouTube. And if YouTube wants the clips, Viacom wants it to pay for them.The move highlights the growing tension — and interdependence — between online video sites and traditional media companies. The latter dislike having their copyrighted material posted without permission, but they do like the extra promotion it brings. YouTube had about 29.6 million visitors in December, according to ComScore Media Metrix. And YouTube, owned by Google Inc., relies on the traffic that established entertainment properties bring to sell ads.It's a fragile ecosystem, and Viacom — owner of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV Networks, Black Entertainment Television and Paramount Pictures — may be disrupting it. Viacom is among four major media companies reportedly in talks with News Corp., CBS and NBC Universal about creating a video website to compete with YouTube."This move could have vast and far-reaching consequences for online traffic, brand power and business models," said Rachel Happe, digital business researcher at IDC. "If Google no longer has access to the enormous quantity of high-value Viacom video content, the value of its service to consumers and advertisers is diminished."Happe said the Internet had matured to the point where individual brands — and in this case, a media powerhouse — want to control more of the traffic, serve their own advertising and own the customer."It's the fight over consolidation versus disaggregation and brand-centric behavior online," Happe said. "The sad thing is the consumer doesn't win out. Ideally, Viacom and Google would have come to some agreement and the video could have been in many places."Viacom executives said the company wasn't trying to block new forms of online distribution. It offers downloads through Apple Inc.'s iTunes store and partners with mobile phone carriers. "Our stuff costs a lot of money to make. It's made with the best people in the world. It generates huge audiences. So people should be prepared to pay for what it's worth," said Michael Fricklas, Viacom's executive vice president and general counsel."We're in the business of making our content available through all methods of distribution. YouTube needs to pay for it as well."David Eun, Google's vice president of content, said Google and YouTube still hoped to reach a deal with Viacom. Viacom was the first partner in an experimental program last summer to distribute its content across Google's ad network. "It's still so early that there aren't established models for how to do this," Eun said. "We're still trying to figure out a relationship that works for both parties — what works economically, what works from all sorts of different vantage points."Forrester Research media analyst James McQuivey said other television networks, including Viacom's former corporate sibling, CBS Corp., have struck deals with YouTube. CBS, for example, reported that 300 of its video clips averaged nearly 1 million views a day and built an audience for personalities like "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson and Dr. Phil. YouTube has also reached deals with Warner Music Group, Vivendi-owned Universal Music Group and NBC Universal. "It really comes down to, is a two-minute clip viewed online a substitute for watching the show, or is it an enticement to watch the show?" McQuivey said. "Is it substitution or promotion?"McQuivey said Viacom, whose cable networks command a premium, is making a statement that its content similarly holds value even when distributed online."The brands under Viacom, these are all things you have to pay for. They have some of the highest-traffic videos on your site. So they're probably in a unique position. I don't think if PBS had gone over to complain, they'd have the same leverage."
TV - ACTRA appeals court ruling, industry urges talks CP 02feb07 -- ACTRA appeals court ruling, industry urges talks. Many U.S. states are lobbying aggressively for the same business, and projects will move elsewhere, he said. ACTRA has agreed to meet with concerned producers on Friday and challenged the CFTPA to send a representative. Judge refuses injunction On Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sarah Pepall refused to grant an injunction against the labour action, but said the two parties must discuss some issues in arbitration. "The producers maintain that certain process issues should be before an arbitrator, while we maintain that labour boards should deal with such issues," ACTRA's chief negotiator Stephen Waddell said in a statement issued Thursday. "The arbitrator will not be dealing with the substance of negotiations." The two main issues that must go before an arbitrator are ACTRA's right to strike and the legality of the "continuation letters" it has signed with Canadian producers. These letters allow productions to continue and actors to keep working, if the producers agree to a five per cent wage hike and two per cent improvement in benefits. In her ruling, Pepall said the continuation letter strategy did not cause "irreparable harm" to the industry. Waddell argued that the CFPTA launched litigation "as an alternative to negotiating" and urged the producers to return to the bargaining table. ACTRA made the appeal on the grounds that labour laws apply to the Independent Production Agreement (IPA) between ACTRA and the CFTPA, and that therefore there is no need for arbitration. 'Astonished' by appeal On Thursday, the CFPTA said it was "astonished" at ACTRA's appeal. "I fail to see the logic in ACTRA appealing this decision," said John Barrack, the producers' chief negotiator. "Not only does this action further illustrate ACTRA's total disregard for the instability it has caused within the industry, but it goes one step further in trying to dismantle the IPA and prolong the court process." Talks between the two parties broke down over the issue of wages and compensation for internet rights. Neither issue will be dealt with by arbitration, which is expected to begin within two weeks. ACTRA represents 21,000 English-language performers throughout Canada.
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MUSIC - SONYBMG & EMI Cuts Continue 28feb07 -- EMI has laid off an undisclosed number of employees in its EMI Canada unit, sources familiar with the situation confirm.The move is part of the label's North American restructuring efforts, which have already seen the merger of EMI's Capitol and Virgin imprints, as well as a reorganization of its independent distribution arm, Caroline.The layoffs in Canada impacted label staff as well as manufacturing and distribution employees.A first wave of notifications went out last week, additional pink slips were handed out today. The Toronto headquarters of Sony BMG Music Canada closed Monday (Feb. 19) as an estimated 35-40 employees were dismissed.According to sources, staffers were notified late last week that the head office would be closed and that all positions were under review. The office opened "as usual" for business today (Feb. 20).The layoffs come a week after two top level executives departed the company -- Norman Miller, VP of digital business, IS&T and marketing services and Christine (CJ) Prudham, VP of legal and business affairs - and a month after Sony BMG Music Canada president Lisa Zbitnew was suddenly ousted Jan. 15.After Zbitnew's quick exit, Sony BMG Music named Shane Carter and Neil Foster Sony BMG Music Canada co-presidents.In an email response to Billboard about their firings, Sony BMG Music Canada co-president Shane Carter wrote "no comment" regarding a confirmation of the staffers let go.Despite speculation of the pending dismissals, many Canadian music industry vets were shocked by the move. "I can understand they had to drop some people but to do it in such a manner was disgusting," says a retail music buyer. "If this is an example of this new administration, I'd almost rather not do business with them."According to Nielsen Entertainment Sony BMG Canada's market share year to date is 19.3% compared to 11.6% for EMI; 12.9% for Warner; and 37.7% for market leader Universal Music.In the past year, the company's domestic roster has been downsized with such promising singer/songwriters as Liam Titcomb and Jeremy Fisher and pop rapper Shawn Desman being dropped. Last week rock band The Trews left the fold after a licensing deal with Bumstead Records in Toronto wasn't renewed.Still remaining on the Canadian roster are such top level acts as Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Keisha Chante.
COPYRIGHT - MySpace, YouTube Jump On Copyright Protection Bandwagon by Reuters 27feb07 -- It's vaguely reminiscent of the days that began the downfall of the P2P phenomenon. Last week's announcement by YouTube that they will use the services of Audible Magic to prevent unauthorized media from being used on their site is another sign that the wild west days of seeing anything and everything on YouTube are slowly winding down. Audible Magic provides a fingerprint technology that allows copyrighted music and videos to be identified at the point of being put on the YouTube or MySpace site, eliminating the need (for the most part) for these guys to patrol their site for unauthorized content. Which presents a strange dilemma. How does YouTube continue to be YouTube when the whole reason most of their audience comes to their site is to see the stuff that becomes contraband? "We are definitely committed to (offering copyright protection technologies). It is one of the company's highest priorities," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. I guess this is what happens when sites like MySpace and YouTube move beyond the underground and into the mainstream, they need to legitimize, or they'll either go broke fighting it in court or even worse, having to pay fines. So where can they go? Becoming legit. They put in place copyright filters, start talking about sharing revenue (because paying for use of a copyright is the heart of a copyright), and take the next step forward. This is only the latest stage in the back and forth tennis match of protection technology and people that will try to hack it. Ask any virus protection company about how much time and money they spend on staying up to date with the latest threats and you'll realize that it's a never-ending task. They've started rocky discussions with recording labels and big media companies over revenue-sharing agreements, which may be the only way for YouTube to go forward with the use of copyrighted material on their site.
BOOKS - Black launches libel suit against biographer Feb. 20 2007 CTV News -- Conrad Black has launched an $11-million libel suit against Tom Bower, the author of 'Conrad & Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge', calling him "vindictive, high-handed, contemptuous, sadistic, pathologically mendacious and malicious." Black alleges in his statement of claim that Bower's 436-page book is "evil and devoid of any redeeming or even mitigating qualities," reports the Globe and Mail. He also alleges that Bower's book portrays his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, as "grasping, hectoring, slatternly, extravagant, shrill and a harridan." The 43-page lawsuit, filed in a Toronto court last week, says Black has suffered damage from the book that includes "hatred, ridicule and contempt." Bower's book was released last September in Canada and Britain. It was also released in the U.S., under the title 'Outrageous Fortune: The Rise and Ruin of Conrad and Lady Black'. Since the release, Black has not been shy about attacking the book. In an article in London's Sunday Telegraph last October, Black said Bower's "key-hole, smut-mongering side-piece portrayal of my wife as a man-eating sex maniac prior to her marriage to me is disgusting." Last week Black told the Globe that he was going to file "the mother of all libel statements of claim." In the suit, Black mentions more than 50 examples of alleged inaccuracies and defamatory statements in the book. In one example cited by the Globe, Black alleges that Bower falsely describes him as "a religious hypocrite or crank who delusionally imagines conversations with God in which he believes he receives reassurances about the divine acceptability of illegal and immoral actions." Black also takes issue with Bower's description of Amiel Black as "a Nazi apologist" who is "barbarously rude to domestic staff." "She is falsely accused of flying to London to have lunch with former U.S. president (George H. W.) Bush and generally of being a domineering, vulgar, obsessively materialistic and altogether repulsive personality,'' alleges the suit. Black also names the publisher of the book, Harper & Collins Books of Canada Ltd., in the suit. London-based Bower, who has written other controversial biographies, has faced lawsuits in the past. He wrote two biographies about British newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991, and received a similar response. "Robert Maxwell sued me many times and look what happened to him,'' Bower wrote the Globe in an email. In response, Black wrote in another email: "I'm not concerned with his reaction; he's gambling on a verdict in Chicago that is almost impossible to be obtained... I'm looking forward to his interrogation under oath." Black goes on trial in Chicago in March to defend himself against allegations that he and three other executives of Hollinger International Inc. took more than US$80 million out of the company. Black and the other executives have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
BOOKS & COPYRIGHT - Court Upholds Copyright Law on 'Orphan Works' NewsMax.com WiresTuesday, Jan. 23, 2007 -- A U.S. appeals court has rejected a bid by Internet activists to roll back federal laws that extended copyright protection over orphan works, or books and other media that are no longer in print. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss Kahle v. Gonzales, which argued that legal changes made in the 1990s had vastly extended copyright protections at the expense of free speech rights. Orphaned works are a hot-button issue for the publishing industry, which has resisted efforts by Web companies Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and the Internet Archive -- working with major academic libraries -- to scan orphaned and out-of-copyright works to make them available for free on the Web. Prior to 1978, the number of orphaned copyright works was limited by requirements that intellectual property holders renew their rights within a certain period of years. Otherwise ownership of these works would pass into the public domain. Amendments to U.S. copyright law in the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1992 made renewal registration optional, rather than mandatory, in order to preserve copyrights. A 1998 amendment further extended the renewal term to 67 years. Critics of the changes had mocked the law as an effort to prolong Walt Disney Co.'s copyright hold over Mickey Mouse.
MUSIC - How Your Music Makes Money… Internationally SOCAN The Right Note, Winter 2007 Edition -- In 2005, SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) distributed $42-million in royalties received from foreign performing rights organizations (PROs), representing 23 percent of the total royalties distributed, which is clear evidence that Canadian music creators are enjoying record success on the world stage. SOCAN, through reciprocal agreements with affiliated PROs around the globe, At this time, Socan has agreements with more than 75 affiliated PROs, which are busy licensing the performances of member works in their territories. SOCAN enjoys excellent working relationships with its international affiliated PROs and is constantly in touch in order to proactively pursue claims on behalf of SOCAN members. PROs obtain information on SOCAN repertoire through various internationally accessible databases, such as CIS Net (operated by CISAC on behalf of its member organizations), FastTrack, AVI (Audio Visual Index) and WID (Works Identification Database), which are updated on a regular basis. SOCAN members themselves are kept up to date through online international trending reports and pre- and post-distribution information, now available in the member-secure area of www.socan.ca. Who pays what? Some PROs provide complete details on performances included in their international distributions to SOCAN, such as number and type (radio, broadcast or cable TV, concert) of performances. Others provide very little detail to complement the funds transferred to SOCAN. Some calculate performance royalties according to a census (both ASCAP and BMI in the U.S., for example, limit their concert distributions to the 200 top-grossing concert tours), while others conduct scientifically devised samples. SOCAN members will find a chart in the members’ secure section at www.socan.ca, summarizing dozens of international PROs with respect to distribution frequency and types of distributions covered
TV - Quebec TV producers say feds should give television fund a loan by Rollande Parent, Canadian Press 08feb2007 -- MONTREAL (CP) - Quebec television producers say the federal government should give the Canadian Television Fund an interest-free loan matching sums withheld by cable distributors Shaw Communications and Videotron until they pay up. Claire Samson, of the Quebec association of film and television producers, said Tuesday this would save the next season of TV production. She said it would also prevent producers from being held hostage by various television professionals including techicians, directors, writers and their unions. "If this situation is not resolved within two weeks, the machine will peter out," she said. "The government, the CRTC and the public must understand." In the last two months, both Shaw and Quebecor-owned Videotron have suspended their contributions to the fund and called for a serious review into how it is managed. Samson said Videotron and Shaw, whose licences are regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, should face fines if they do not pay into the fund by the end of the broadcasting year. She said she feared that other distributors, such as Rogers, Bell or Cogeco, could follow the lead of Shaw and Videotron, which would cause a severe drop in non-news TV production. The Canadian Television Fund has an annual budget of $250 million, of which $100 million comes from the government and the remainder from cable distributors, who turn over five per cent of their gross revenues. About thirty-seven per cent of its funding goes to programming by the CBC and its French-language network, Radio-Canada, which in Quebec is the main competitor to Quebecor-owned TVA. Samson accused Videotron of trying to weaken Radio-Canada to obtain more financing for its own in-house productions. In a letter sent last month to Douglas Barrett, the fund's chairman, Quebecor CEO and president Pierre Karl Peladeau expressed "deep dissatisfaction with the fund's governance, performance and direction." He complained that "fund managers pay little heed to the main private-sector contributors to the fund and give little consideration to their point of view in decision-making. "We fully intend to continue being a leading contributor to the financing of Canadian production but we have decided to withhold our monthly contributions to the Canadian Television Fund until significant changes are made to its management and direction," Peladeau said in the letter. Videotron contributed $14.3 million to the fund in 2005, Quebecor has said. The fund has said it invested about $264 million in Canadian programming in its 2005-2006 year.
TV & INTERNET - Viacom wants its content taken off YouTube: company wants to be paid when its videos are posted on YouTube, calling into question the ties between big media and new media. by Dawn C. Chmielewski, NYTimes Feb3, 2007 -- Viacom Inc.'s demand Friday that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips from the popular online video site is more than brinksmanship at the bargaining table.It's a battle of the brands. The entertainment conglomerate's insistence that YouTube remove such coveted content as highlights from "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" signals that it believes these brands have enough cachet to attract an online audience, with or without YouTube. And if YouTube wants the clips, Viacom wants it to pay for them.The move highlights the growing tension — and interdependence — between online video sites and traditional media companies. The latter dislike having their copyrighted material posted without permission, but they do like the extra promotion it brings. YouTube had about 29.6 million visitors in December, according to ComScore Media Metrix. And YouTube, owned by Google Inc., relies on the traffic that established entertainment properties bring to sell ads.It's a fragile ecosystem, and Viacom — owner of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV Networks, Black Entertainment Television and Paramount Pictures — may be disrupting it. Viacom is among four major media companies reportedly in talks with News Corp., CBS and NBC Universal about creating a video website to compete with YouTube."This move could have vast and far-reaching consequences for online traffic, brand power and business models," said Rachel Happe, digital business researcher at IDC. "If Google no longer has access to the enormous quantity of high-value Viacom video content, the value of its service to consumers and advertisers is diminished."Happe said the Internet had matured to the point where individual brands — and in this case, a media powerhouse — want to control more of the traffic, serve their own advertising and own the customer."It's the fight over consolidation versus disaggregation and brand-centric behavior online," Happe said. "The sad thing is the consumer doesn't win out. Ideally, Viacom and Google would have come to some agreement and the video could have been in many places."Viacom executives said the company wasn't trying to block new forms of online distribution. It offers downloads through Apple Inc.'s iTunes store and partners with mobile phone carriers. "Our stuff costs a lot of money to make. It's made with the best people in the world. It generates huge audiences. So people should be prepared to pay for what it's worth," said Michael Fricklas, Viacom's executive vice president and general counsel."We're in the business of making our content available through all methods of distribution. YouTube needs to pay for it as well."David Eun, Google's vice president of content, said Google and YouTube still hoped to reach a deal with Viacom. Viacom was the first partner in an experimental program last summer to distribute its content across Google's ad network. "It's still so early that there aren't established models for how to do this," Eun said. "We're still trying to figure out a relationship that works for both parties — what works economically, what works from all sorts of different vantage points."Forrester Research media analyst James McQuivey said other television networks, including Viacom's former corporate sibling, CBS Corp., have struck deals with YouTube. CBS, for example, reported that 300 of its video clips averaged nearly 1 million views a day and built an audience for personalities like "Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson and Dr. Phil. YouTube has also reached deals with Warner Music Group, Vivendi-owned Universal Music Group and NBC Universal. "It really comes down to, is a two-minute clip viewed online a substitute for watching the show, or is it an enticement to watch the show?" McQuivey said. "Is it substitution or promotion?"McQuivey said Viacom, whose cable networks command a premium, is making a statement that its content similarly holds value even when distributed online."The brands under Viacom, these are all things you have to pay for. They have some of the highest-traffic videos on your site. So they're probably in a unique position. I don't think if PBS had gone over to complain, they'd have the same leverage."
TV - ACTRA appeals court ruling, industry urges talks CP 02feb07 -- ACTRA appeals court ruling, industry urges talks. Many U.S. states are lobbying aggressively for the same business, and projects will move elsewhere, he said. ACTRA has agreed to meet with concerned producers on Friday and challenged the CFTPA to send a representative. Judge refuses injunction On Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Sarah Pepall refused to grant an injunction against the labour action, but said the two parties must discuss some issues in arbitration. "The producers maintain that certain process issues should be before an arbitrator, while we maintain that labour boards should deal with such issues," ACTRA's chief negotiator Stephen Waddell said in a statement issued Thursday. "The arbitrator will not be dealing with the substance of negotiations." The two main issues that must go before an arbitrator are ACTRA's right to strike and the legality of the "continuation letters" it has signed with Canadian producers. These letters allow productions to continue and actors to keep working, if the producers agree to a five per cent wage hike and two per cent improvement in benefits. In her ruling, Pepall said the continuation letter strategy did not cause "irreparable harm" to the industry. Waddell argued that the CFPTA launched litigation "as an alternative to negotiating" and urged the producers to return to the bargaining table. ACTRA made the appeal on the grounds that labour laws apply to the Independent Production Agreement (IPA) between ACTRA and the CFTPA, and that therefore there is no need for arbitration. 'Astonished' by appeal On Thursday, the CFPTA said it was "astonished" at ACTRA's appeal. "I fail to see the logic in ACTRA appealing this decision," said John Barrack, the producers' chief negotiator. "Not only does this action further illustrate ACTRA's total disregard for the instability it has caused within the industry, but it goes one step further in trying to dismantle the IPA and prolong the court process." Talks between the two parties broke down over the issue of wages and compensation for internet rights. Neither issue will be dealt with by arbitration, which is expected to begin within two weeks. ACTRA represents 21,000 English-language performers throughout Canada.
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