Supreme Court upholds copyright law...

Supreme Court upholds copyright law Affirms return of copyright to foreign works once in public domain By TED JOHNSON The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Congress' ability to extent copyright protection to works by foreign artists and authors that were previously in the public domain. The high court ruled 6 to 2, with Justice Elena Kagan recusing herself. "Nothing in the historical record, congressional practice or our own jurisprudence warrants exceptional First...

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Acad: Digital indies face early death...

Acad: Digital indies face early death Indie and docu filmmakers unaware of risk, says report By DAVID S. COHEN The Motion Picture Academy's Science & Technology Council released the executive summary of part 2 of its "Digital Dilemma" report on the problems of long-term storage of digital movie footage. This new document focuses on the independent and documentary sectors of the movie business, and it paints a grim picture of filmmakers largely unaware how fragile...

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Europe's digital rollout passes half-way point...

Europe's digital rollout passes half-way point Smaller cinemas are struggling By ED MEZA BERLIN -- More than 52% of theatrical screens in Europe have been converted to digital, up from just 4% three years ago, yet single-screen cinemas are still struggling. According to a report by the Council of Europe's European Audiovisual Observatory and Media Salles, part of the EU's Media Program, some 18,500 digital screens had been installed in Europe by the end of last year. While...

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Wikipedia, Craigslist, other sites go black in SOPA protest...

Following through on their threats to shut down for a day over controversial proposed anti-piracy legislation, a coalition of websites including the hugely popular user-generated encyclopedia Wikipedia went black as midnight struck the East Coast. Visitors to English-language pages on Wikipedia, regularly ranked as one of the five most popular sites on the Internet, with an estimated 2.7 billion monthly pageviews in the U.S., instead found only a headline stating "Imagine...

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Hollywood's design credit dilemma

Hollywood's design credit dilemma ADG's 'Tintin' nom highlights production designer/art director issue By PETER CARANICAS "The Adventures of Tintin" was released without a credited production designer. A heated dispute within the Art Directors Guild over a credit on "The Adventures of Tintin" has exposed a long-simmering debate over the title of production designer vs. art director while also raising questions about the changing role such artists play in a filmmaking...

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Canadian TV biz goes to court

Canadian TV biz goes to court It wants regulator to treat ISPs as broadcasters By BRENDAN KELLY MONTREAL -- The battle to force Internet Service Providers to be treated like broadcasters went before Canada's Supreme Court on Monday, a case that could have a major impact on the local TV business. A coalition representing actors, writers and producers argued that ISPs should be forced to follow rules set by federal broadcast regulator the Canadian Radio-Television and...

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Commercial shoots on streets of L.A. reach record level...

On a sunny Monday afternoon near the Port of Los Angeles, a man straddling a mechanic's red toolbox is wheeling down a street, struggling to maintain his balance as he turns a corner. A camera crew is filming the action as part of a shoot for oil change chain Jiffy Lube, one of at least a dozen commercials shot this week across Los Angeles County. Others include spots in downtown L.A. for Yoplait Yogurt and Jeep Cherokee, as well as North Hollywood for JC Penney. Commercial...

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New rules for Oscar's documentary category

Acad to set new rules for docs Changes will narrow the number of qualifying pics By CHRISTY GROSZ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is set to announce new rules this week for Oscar's documentary category that will have far-reaching implications for the next year's race. The biggest change is that in order for any film to qualify for the 2012-13 awards season, it must have been reviewed by either the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times, which reported...

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VOD grows fast in Latin America..

VOD grows fast in Latin America New video-on-demand services are sprouting across the region By JOHN HOPEWELL MADRID -- Latin America's VOD landscape is rapidly gaining definition. In September, Netflix launched a streaming-only service throughout the region. Argentina's two big telcos, Telefonica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina, also have rolled out VOD services. In Brazil, VOD is offered by satcaster Sky and cabler Net. Also in Brazil, NetMovies, Latin America's...

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