Los Angeles – The estate of late funk musician Rick James
has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against major label Universal Music
Group, claiming unpaid royalties from the sale of digital songs and ringtones,
according to The Hollywood Reporter. The suit follows the Supreme Court’s
refusal to hear an appeal of a ruling that found Eminem’s early producing
partners were owed additional digital royalties.

In that case, the court found
digital music should be seen as "licensed" rather than
"sold," meaning that copyright owners should receive a 50%, rather
than 12%-20%, cut of profits.

For its part, Universal Music told The New York
Times that the ruling in the Eminem case "has no bearing on any other recording
agreement and does not create any legal precedent."

"The complaint
filed by the Estate of Rick James suffers from many infirmities, not the least
of which is that the claims asserted are not appropriate for class treatment. We
intend to vigorously defend against it," Universal Music told THR in a
statement.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/43fawek
(Hollywood Reporter)

http://tinyurl.com/437ndlr
(DMW previous coverage)

Los Angeles – Hulu Plus, the $8-per-month subscription
version of the online video service, is on track to count over one million
subscribers by year’s end, CEO Jason Kilar wrote in a post on the company’s
blog.

The joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal and Disney (NYSE: DIS) is also
expected to generate nearly $500 million in revenues for 2011, up from $263
million in 2010.

Kilar also said that Hulu will earn its content partners some
$300 million in 2011; the service currently features content from 264
providers, up from 211 in the first quarter of 2010.

Related Links:
http://blog.hulu.com/2011/04/04/q1/

Tyler, Texas – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has won an appeals court reversal of a
ruling that would have seen the company ordered to pay $625.5 million in patent
infringement damages over its Cover Flow album art display and other features,
Bloomberg reported.

Mirror Worlds, a firm founded by Yale computer science
Prof. David Gelernter, sued Apple in 2008 over patents related to Apple’s Cover
Flow, Time Machine automatic back-up and Spotlight computer search features.

A
jury sided with Mirror Worlds in October, and ordered Apple to pay a total of
$625.5 million in damages.

The federal judge handling the appeal did not
invalidate Mirror Worlds’ patents, but said Apple did not infringe upon them —
and also found the jury’s damages award to be too high.

"Mirror Worlds may
have painted an appealing picture for the jury, but it failed to lay a solid
foundation sufficient to support important elements it was required to
establish under the law," U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis wrote in his
ruling.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3h7kwns
(Bloomberg)

http://tinyurl.com/25nlpv6
(DMW previous coverage)

Boston – Txteagle, a provider of software for conducting
consumer surveys on mobile devices, has raised $8.5 million in a venture
capital deal led by Spark Capital, according to published reports on Tuesday.

Founded in 2009, Boston-based txteagle has compiled a database of 2.1 billion
consumers. Its software allows consumers to send and receive messages free of
charge.

Consumers who participate in a survey are provided with free airtime,
assuming their mobile operator is affiliated with the service.

Txteagles’
founders are alumni from MIT’s Media Lab and Harvard’s statistics department.

Related Links:
http://txteagle.com

Washington – Google (NASD: GOOG) is said to be the target of a possible
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into its dominance of the search
industry, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The
FTC is thought to be waiting to proceed until the Justice Dept. decides whether
to challenge Google’s proposed acquisition of online travel firm ITA Software.

Bloomberg’s sources said the Justice Dep. may soon announce its decision on the
Google-ITA deal.

The European Commission, as well as officials in Texas, are
also investigating possible antitrust concerns with Google in the search
industry, while a handful of lawmakers have urged the Senate Judiciary
Committee’s antitrust division to hold hearings on Google.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/679mdoh
(Bloomberg)

http://tinyurl.com/465cw5s
(DMW previous coverage)

Boulder, Colo. – PlaceIQ, a developer of mobile marketing
tools, has raised $1 million in new funding, All Things D reported.

Investors
included IA Ventures, Social Leverage, kbs+p Ventures, Jim Pallota, Jerry
Neumann and Stuart Davidson.

Boulder, Colo.-based PlaceIQ hopes to capitalize
on the geo-location data from consumers’ mobile phones, from check-ins and
tagged photos, for marketing purposes.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4ybge3h
(All Things D)

http://www.placeiq.com

Herndon, Va. – Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology
said it has provided a seed-stage investment to Airside Mobile, developer of a
free mobile commerce platform aimed at people in airports.

Financial terms of
the deal were not disclosed.

The nonprofit said it made the investment through
its GAP Funds, which are designed to help Virginia firms bridge the gap between
seed and early-stage funding.

Arlington, Va.-based Airside’s technology targets
the more than 750 million travelers that pass through U.S. airports each year.

The platform analyzes traveler information — such as location, itinerary and
flight status — to provide them with relevant offers from partners in the
airport services arena.

The company currently operates through an iPhone app,
with plans to add apps for Android and Blackberry devices in the coming months.

Airside plans to use the investment to develop new features such as mobile
check-in, one-touch mobile boarding pass retrieval and searchable dining and
retail guides.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3k2qvd3
(PDF)

http://www.airsidemobile.com

New York – Vice, the operator of a youth media brand that
includes a magazine, book and music divisions and marketing agency, announced
on Tuesday that it has received an undisclosed amount of funding from MTV
founder Tom Freston, ad giant WPP and media merchant bank The Raine Group.

New
York-based Vice said it has also entered into a strategic partnership with
talent agency William Morris Endeavor.

The company said it will use the new
funds to expand into emerging markets like Brazil, China, India and South
Korea, and is building a network of international studios to produce original
content.

Vice will also expand its news and sports divisions, and establish
additional new digital channels and verticals with brands.

Related Links:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110405005225/en

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/business/media/05vice.html

http://www.vice.com

Washington – LivingSocial, the local deals and social
shopping network, has raised $400 million in its latest funding round,
according to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The New York Times
reports the latest round values LivingSocial at over $3 billion. Participating
in the round were existing investors Amazon and Lightspeed Venture Partners,
and new investors T. Rowe Price and Institutional Venture Partners, according
to the publications.

The latest funding round comes just months after Amazon
invested $150 million in LivingSocial, which is engaged in a major battle for
market share with rival Groupon.

Both companies offer discounted daily deals
from retailers such as restaurants, spas, museums and gyms.

LivingSocial is
rapidly expanding beyond its traditional daily deals service by offering
discounted travel packages and instant mobile offerings.

Early investors in
LivingSocial include Grotech Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Steve Case’s
Revolution, LLC, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The company was founded in
2007 by Tim O’Shaughnessy (CEO), Eddie Frederick (President), Aaron Batalion
(CTO) and Val Alekenko (CIO).

The New York Times said LivingSocial now has over
26 million subscribers and is expected to reach 400 markets this year.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/44wjxzl
(NYT)

http://tinyurl.com/3shf4xv
(WSJ)