BlueBeat.com to Pay $1 Million Over Illegal Beatles Song Sales
Los Angeles – A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat.com to
pay nearly $1 million in damages to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit
over its sale of purportedly "psycho-acoustic simulation" versions of
Beatles tracks online for 25 cents each. The company was sued by EMI, Capitol
Records and Virgin Records America in 2009, and in 2010 a judge rejected
BlueBeat’s claim that it had created entirely new — and copyrightable —
versions of Beatles tracks though its psycho-acoustic simulation process.
The
court called that defense "technobabble and doublespeak," and placed
a restraining order against BlueBeat’s unauthorized sale of Beatles tracks —
which at the time were not available to purchase digitally anywhere online.
The
site reportedly sold more than 67,000 Beatles songs before being ordered to
stop by the court.
BlueBeat will pay the record labels $950,000 in damages.
"We basically settled the case for their attorney fees," Archie Robinson,
an attorney for BlueBeat, told said. "I felt that was sort of an
acknowledgement on their part that they don’t have the damages they
claimed."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4mhmvk8
(AP)
http://tinyurl.com/464sv7c
(DMW previous coverage)
Amazon Debuts Cloud Drive Service; Web, Android Supported
Seattle – Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has introduced a new cloud-based media
storage service, which lets consumers upload and store their music and other
files, and stream them to any Internet-connected device. Customers receive 5GB
of free storage on the Amazon Cloud Drive service, and can upgrade to plans
starting at $20 a year for 20GB; those who purchase a new album via Amazon MP3
will also be upgraded to 20GB of storage.
"Our customers have told us they
don’t want to download music to their work computers or phones because they
find it hard to move music around to different devices," said Bill Carr, vice
president of movies and music at Amazon.
"Now, whether at work, home, or
on the go, customers can buy music from Amazon MP3, store it in the cloud and
play it anywhere."
Once songs are uploaded to the cloud, users can access
them via the Cloud Player for Web, or Cloud Player for Android; Amazon did not
make mention of support for Apple’s iPhone.
Mashable has published details of a
workaround that will allow tunes to be streamed to iOS devices from Amazon
Cloud Drive.
Amazon noted that photos, videos and documents may also be stored
on the service.
Related Links:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110328006927/en
http://tinyurl.com/4gy9a5f
(Mashable)
Report: News Corp. in Talks With Vevo on Myspace
Los Angeles – News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) has held discussions to sell its struggling
Myspace unit to music video portal joint venture Vevo, Reuters reported, citing
a person with knowledge of the talks. The likelihood of a deal is reportedly
"slim," but terms would see News Corp. exchange Myspace for a stake
in Vevo, a joint venture between Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Abu
Dhabi Media.
News Corp was reportedly rebuffed when it offered Vevo the
opportunity to buy Myspace outright. Myspace also owns part of Myspace Music, a
joint venture with the major record labels.
Since News Corp. unveiled a retooled Myspace in October 2010, re-focusing the site as an entertainment hub, traffic has fallen 29%, from 88 million monthly visitors in October to 62.6 million in February, according to comScore data.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4r447mo
(Reuters)
http://tinyurl.com/67csu54
(Bloomberg)
Cheezburger Network Acquires Know Your Meme
Seattle – Cheezburger, the publisher of sites including I
Can Has Cheezburger and FAILblog, announced that it has acquired Know Your
Meme, a site that traces the development of Internet "memes."
While
financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Tubefilter pegged the purchase
price at low seven-figures.
Know Your Meme was spun-off from New York-based Web
video network Rocketboom, and currently features research into memes like
Rebecca Black’s "Friday."
Seattle-based Cheezburger raised $30
million in funding in January.
The company’s network attracts 17.5 million
monthly visitors, who are uploading over 500,000 pictures and videos each
month.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/49sgqzn
Adap.tv Raises $20 Million for Video Ad Marketplace
San Mateo, Calif. – Adap.tv, the developer of a video ad
marketplace, said on Tuesday it has closed a $20 million financing round, led
by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Previous backers Gemini Israel Funds, Redpoint
Ventures and Spark Capital also participated in the investment round, proceeds
from which will go to support international growth and additional product
development.
Launched in 2006, San Mateo, Calif.-based Adap.tv counts
4,200 website partners, and reaches over 60 million unique viewers, delivering
more than 1.8 billion video ad views monthly.
*Clarification: Adap.tv was founded in 2006; its Adap.tv Markeplace launched in early 2010.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4nvhzxv
Mobile Commerce Firm MobiCart Raises $500,000
Newcastle Upon Tyne, England – MobiCart, the developer of a
mobile commerce platform, said that it has received $500,000 in seed funding,
from investors including the Finance for Business North East Angel Fund.
U.K.-based MobiCart launched at the DEMO conference with an iPhone commerce
platform.
The company plans to add support next for Android and iPad, with
BlackBerry and Windows Mobile coming later this year.
MobiCart also plans to
introduce a bar code scanner, virtual coupons, loyalty schemes and other
features.
Related Links:
http://www.mobi-cart.com
Contemporary Art Marketplace Artspace Lands $1.2 Million
New York – Artspace, an online marketplace for contemporary
art, announced on Tuesday that it has landed a $1.2 million round of financing.
Investors included Bob Pittman; Pamela P. and C. Richard Kramlich, of New
Enterprise Associates; EA co-founder Tim Mott; and Accelerator Ventures founder
Alexander Lloyd.
New York-based Artspace offers a marketplace for contemporary
art pieces priced between $200 and $10,000, sold exclusively through the
company’s members-only private sales.
The company has partnered with galleries
and art institutions include the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum and
Asia Society.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/45g3nnz
Reports: iPad 2 Sells Out Across International Markets
San Francisco – Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iPad 2, which launched in 25
international markets on Friday, was sold out by Saturday in many places, CNET
News.com reported, citing published reports. Many stores in London and
elsewhere in Britain were sold out of the iPad 2 by Saturday, while sell-outs
were also reported at retailers in Canada, France and Australia.
Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20047858-37.html