Medialoper

We're Not Who You Think We Are

A Download a Day Keeps the Lawyers Away

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Apple Computers and Apple Corp are returning to court today, as The Beatles (or as the MSNBC headline currently has it, “The Beattles”) are accusing Apple Computer of trademark infringement. Again.

Like everything else on the planet, this is centered around iTunes and the iPod, as they represent Apple Comp’s movement into the music space, which Apple Corp says violates the agreement they brokered last time they were in court, 15 years ago.

To Apple Corp, Apple Comp going into music infringes on the value of the Apple record label, which to me, brings up an interesting side point: in the day and age of downloading, what is the value of a record label to a consumer?

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If At First You Don’t Succeed…

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The Wall Street Journal dissects Time Inc’s attempts to stake out territory on the vast Internet. After more false steps and mistakes (Pathfinder, anyone?), the WSJ believes Time is now ready to get it right.

Or, if you will, the time has come for Time to change the way magazines work in the print world to accommodate the web world. Let us, for the moment, skip the irony of the WSJ writing about keeping content under lock and key — much better to focus on the fact that Time realizes that the web isn’t competition; it’s simply another distribution channel. One, if managed right, can be broader and less expensive, simultaneously. Win, win.

As a media critic, I find myself amused that it took until the year 2006 for Time to do stuff like demand “… that writers produce more copy for its Web sites.” Maybe it’s because I’ve been hearing those words every day for ten years. Now, I’m not saying anything, but I do hope Time’s strategy is more than Ana Marie Cox and Andrew Sullivan. Both are fine writers, but Time’s strength, indeed its potential for web domination, will come from innovation and long tail content, in addition to unique voices and attitude.

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The Daily Loper – March 28, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

Sampling Your Way To Better Art

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Was it just two weeks ago that I discussed darknets? Time really does fly when you’re having fun. I was reminded of that column as I read Scott McLemee’s discussion about the out-of-control litigation surrounding music sampling. Like McLemee, when I heard about the Ohio Players court case cited in the article’s lead, my first reaction was “They’re still together?”

Later in the article, McLemee notes that it usually the case that the person who owns the copyright isn’t a person — which doesn’t actually answer the Ohio Players question — it’s a corporation, generally the label. And thanks to copyright laws that increasingly favor the copyright holder — badly skewing the purpose of copyright protection — the age-old creative process is being threatened.

Okay, not really. Creativity being what it is (creative) means that artists will always find a way around roadblocks.

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The Daily Loper – March 27, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

The Viral Death Spiral

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Are we already seeing the death of the viral video? I think we can all agree that the viral nature of viral comes from the fact that its spreads by word-of-mouth (mouth = email or cell phone). That major media companies are now packaging online clips as “viral” suggests that they don’t really get it.

VH1 has Web Junk 20 with the companion site VSPOT (and, yes, I’m amused to see that the New York Times article specifically notes that these so-called “viral” web moments are released to the VH1 website after they’re aired on the show). Bravo has its series Outrageous and Contagious: Viral Videos. USA Networks is reportedly working on a project as well. Already it’s enough, right?

Can you say Carson Daly? I thought you could. And despite the fact that jumping the shark has jumped the shark, the major media viral video craze has jumped the shark when a show called (wait for it) The Net with Carson Daly is poised for debut. What, blogging wasn’t good enough for him?

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The Daily Loper – March 26, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

  • MPAA Puts the Screws to NiteShdw.com
    The MPAA continues its War On Bittorrent, this time with a twist. They’ve settled with a tracker site, but they aren’t allowing the site to use donations to pay off the settlement. I guess what works in Washington doesn’t always work in Hollywood.
  • Husker Du on Joan Rivers Show
    No. Seriously. It’s Husker Du on the Joan Rivers Show!! What are you waiting for?!?!?!! No seriously, you need to watch the interview at the end.
  • Apple Computer Set to Mark 30th Birthday
    Happy birthday to you, blah, blah, blah. And they said Apple wouldn’t survive to the ripe old age of ten.

The Weekly ‘Loper – March 26, 2006

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While you were trying to figure out what exactly the deals were with Tony Soprano and Chef, here’s what we were talking about:

  • LaLa Love You You can’t swap digital musical files that you have legally purchased, nor can you swap digital musical files ripped from physical CDs that you have legally purchased. But you can swap physical CDs that you have legally purchased. For now.
  • The New Music Model: DIY – Let’s all give a big amount of applesauce applause for Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, and other bands are totally doing it their way.
  • Press Room? I Said Rest Room! – A hard-hitting investigation into the need for a Press Room at SXSW. Never underestimate the importance of comfortable chairs.
  • Radio Killed The Radio Star, Part One – A deep long look at a SXSW panel called “The Future of Radio,” and how the music industry and the government continue to find ways to make that future seem bleak, at best.
  • Radio Killed The Radio Star, Part Two – Who needs radio, when we have become our own musical gatekeepers. And: Signs of life, but are those exceptions or precursors to a new way?
  • TV Shows on DVD I’d Like To See – And why, sadly, we might never see any of them. As usual, rights issues (read: the need to squeeze every last penny from something) get in the way of consumer desires.
  • Television Without Potty – Finally got to use that headline!! And for exactly the type of post I knew it would accompany: the FCC continuing to run roughshod over free speech.

Monkeynews: Downloading Kong in Europe

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King Kong is coming out on DVD on April 10th. In and of itself, that isn’t extraordinary — it’s been a few months since it hit the theatre, and now those interested in Peter Jackson’s take on the tale, but didn’t want to be bothered with sticky floors, ringing cellphones, commercials and overpriced vats of food can watch it in the privacy of their own homes. (Why they even had wait a few months is another discussion for another time).

That week, millions of people will trundle off to their local Best Buy or Blockbuster or rip open a package from Amazon, and pop King Kong into their DVD player. Unless they live in Europe, where instead, they can download it.

For the first time ever, a major Hollywood movie will be available for downloading on the same day as the DVD release. A non-self-destructing file, unlike other downloads in the past; and while it is more expensive than just purchasing the DVD, they will also send a physical copy of the DVD. Right. A physical backup copy for the downloaded digital file. And also, to give the consumer more choices on when and where to play the movie.

If successful in Europe, it’s only a matter of time before they try it here: and that will be long after shared copies of those downloads have already made it here. Given the time difference between here and Europe, it’s possible that a shared download of Kong will be played on some college kids laptop before his local DVD store even opens.

But maybe, just maybe, the movie studios will look at what they call “piracy” as indicators of demand — what people are willing to pay for if it was only available — as opposed to indicators of just how contemptible their audience actually is. If so, it’s another major step to anything, anytime, anywhere.

The Daily Loper – March 25, 2006

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Todays links of interest: