THR: Gawker Settles Copyright Suit Over "McSteamy" Sex Tape
Los Angeles – Blog network Gawker Media has settled a $1
million copyright infringement lawsuit filed by "Grey’s Anatomy"
co-star Eric Dane and actress Rebecca Gayheart over the "McSteamy"
sex tape featuring the pair and a friend that the company published, according
to The Hollywood Reporter. Under the terms, Gawker has removed the video in
question, and paid a "low-six figures" settlement, sources told THR.
THR
notes the novel use of copyright infringement as a means to compel websites to
remove a sex tape, but the court said statutory damages of $150,000 were not
available since the video wasn’t registered with the Copyright Office until
after it was posted by Gawker.
For its part, Gawker had made a "fair
use" claim to the video.
"Although we are confident that our use of
the video on Gawker was protected fair use, because the posts already had been
available to our readers for nearly a year, and because we already had won an
important decision from the court striking large parts of the plaintiffs’
damages claims, we agreed to remove the posts as part of a global settlement to
avoid the burden of further litigation," Gawker COO Gaby Darbyshire told
THR.
Private mediation led to the settlement which was filed with the court
last week.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2buoj5f
(Hollywood Reporter)
"American Idol" Ditches Sony for Universal for Music Sales
Los Angeles – The producers of "American Idol"
have signed a new multi-year distribution and marketing agreement with major
record label Universal Music Group, replacing a previous similar deal with Sony
Music.
Universal said the deal with 19 Entertainment and Simon Fuller will see
its Interscope Geffen A&M label group market, promote and distribute albums
globally from Idol finalists and winning contestants.
The producers said that,
since its debut in 2001, "American Idol" has spurred sales of over
120 million songs on iTunes, and over 100 million unit sales in North America
alone.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/29wra8z
Survey: 72% of iPhone 4 Owners "Very Satisfied"
Rockville, Md. – A recent survey of Apple (NASD: AAPL) iPhone 4 owners found
that, despite criticism over the device’s antenna, 72% of owners say they’re
"very satisfied" with their purchases.
Conducted by market research
firm ChangeWave, the survey of 213 iPhone 4 owners found an additional 21% said
they are "somewhat satisfied" with the iPhone 4.
One-third of iPhone
4 owners said the device "exceeds" their expectations, while 50% said
it "meets" expectations.
In the wake of an issue with the iPhone 4’s
antenna that compelled Apple to offer free bumper cases to remedy reception
problems, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they haven’t experienced any
problems, and 14% said it "wasn’t much of a problem."
One in five
(14%) called the antenna issue "somewhat of a problem," while 7%
described it as a "very big problem."
Some 73% said they were
"very" or "somewhat" satisfied with Apple’s bumper case
remedy, while 18% said they were still "very" or "somewhat"
unsatisfied.
"Despite the waves of controversy that surrounded the iPhone
4 within days of its launch, the latest Apple release is outperforming almost
every other smart phone in the industry in terms of overall customer
satisfaction and meeting owners’ expectations," writes Paul Carton
ChangeWave’s vice president of research.
"While one-in-five iPhone 4
owners do say the antenna has caused them problems, by an overwhelming margin
they are satisfied with Apple’s solution."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/23ldsof
Report: Android Smartphones Lead U.S. Sales in Q2
Port Washington, N.Y. – Smartphones running Google’s (NASD: GOOG) Android
operating system led U.S. sales in the second quarter, knocking Research in
Motion’s (RIM) (NASD: RIMM) BlackBerry platform to second place for the first time since
2007, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. Android
accounts for 33% of all U.S. smartphone sales in the second quarter, beating
out RIM (28%) and Apple (22%).
"While the Google-developed OS took market
share from RIM, Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of
the iPhone 4 launch," said NPD’s Ross Rubin.
The top-selling Android-based
smartphone was the Motorola Droid, followed by HTC’s Droid Incredible, EVO 4G,
Hero and Droid Eris.
NPD said smartphones sold for the Verizon Wireless network
accounted for 33% of second quarter sales, followed by AT&T (25%), Sprint
(12%) and T-Mobile (11%).
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2a6gs93
