HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

On April 7, the Digital HHR team will be presenting “App-endectomy: Removing the Mystery from the App Ecosystem“, the next in its on-going series of live, CLE-accredited webinars.

The explosive popularity of tablets, smartphones and other Internet-connected consumer devices has ushered in a new technology ecosystem driven by Apps. These self-contained software programs have not only provided the stakeholders involved with a compelling way to exploit everything from movies and games to magazines and newspapers, but have created a thriving new marketplace poised for ongoing, accelerated growth. While the stakeholders are many, the myriad of complex business and legal issues facing them are no less staggering in number. For publishers, content creators, App developers, content distributors, aggregators, storefront operators and service providers, the successful navigation of a rapidly evolving landscape of shifting terms and conditions, privacy regulations, content restrictions and corresponding business considerations across multiple devices and platforms has proven a daunting but essential exercise for leveraging the economic opportunities available.

In this CLE-accredited webinar, the DigitalHHR team will explore the critical business and legal challenges associated with the development, publication, distribution, sale and use of Apps. We will discuss the contours of in-App purchases, subscription-based offerings, and “freemium” models, as well as in-App advertising and App-based ad networks. We will analyze the evolving privacy terms and conditions associated with the use of Apps, and the corresponding laws, regulations and case law impacting end user data collection, disclosure and ownership. We will also address the terms and requirements promulgated by the various platform operators, including Apple, RIM (Blackberry) and Google (Android), and how they impact stakeholders’ participation across the different App environments.

The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT.

To register, please click here.

DigitalHHR’s Wayne Josel will moderate a panel as part of a program entitled “The Future of Digital Media: Investment Growth Strategies,” hosted by ACG New York. The program, to be held March 30, will explore the current and future state of digital media and include discussions on current deals being structured and new strategies companies are investing in. Other speakers will include leaders from Flybridge Capital Partners, Legion Enterprises, LLC, Deep Focus and TM Capital.  Registration information is here.

On December 9, the DigitalHHR team will be presenting “Forecast: Entertainment in the Cloud”, the next in its on-going series of live, CLE-accredited webinars.  

As the public’s demand for “any content anywhere” grows, entertainment, media and technology companies are turning to the cloud for innovative ways to distribute and monetize content. Through initiatives like digital lockers, streaming to mobile apps, progressive downloading to tablet devices, and other forms of cloud-based storage and distribution, stakeholders are exploring new business models and ways to innovate without compromising the value of content or jeopardizing the rights of content owners to control how their content is consumed by the ultimate end user.

In this CLE-accredited Webinar, we will focus on the critical legal and business issues raised by the expansion of cloud computing and its impact on the distribution and consumption of entertainment content. We will analyze how cloud computing has led to new methods of distribution that give rise to an increased threat of copyright infringement and the recent case law impacting the cloud computing landscape. We will discuss new digital rights management tools, methods of end user, subscriber and purchase authentication. We will explore how stakeholders can balance complying with evolving standards, laws and regulations with the need to exploit new technological advancements that lead to improved services and enhanced end user experiences.

Our New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed will be joined by our UK-based colleagues from the international Technology and Media focused law firm Taylor Wessing LLP. Taylor Wessing will address some key international and European issues that impact cloud models. These issues will include jurisdictional risks, different rights spanning different territories, advertising laws, collecting societies, the European laws on privacy, cookies and liability for cloud platform providers, as well as challenges related to format shifting/uploading consumers’ existing content into the cloud.

The webinar will be held on Thursday, December 9, 2010 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST.  To register, please click here.

DigitalHHR’s Wayne Josel will be moderating a panel at the upcoming Digital Hollywood New York conference.  Entitled “Cloud Media & the Connected PC-TV-Mobile Universe: The New Face of the Digital Consumer”, the panel will feature top executives from Verizon, HP, ActiveVideo Networks, Thwapr and IBB Consulting in a discussion on new initiatives to deliver content to consumers from the cloud. 

Digital Hollywood New York, being held from November 10 through 12, is the East Coast version of one of the leading conferences focusing on the convergence of entertainment and technology, bringing together leaders in the film, television, music, home video, cable, telecommunications and computer industries.  This year’s conference theme is “Media Disruption: TV, Film & Video, Magazines, News, Books, Games, Commerce & Advertising”.  Registration information is available here.

Next week, Matthew Syrkin will present a panel on music licensing and related copyright issues to the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.  The panel, entitled “Beg, Borrow or Steal – Exploring Practical Solutions to the Music Sampling Debate” will take place on Monday, Oct. 18 at noon at the Princeton Club in Midtown.  Panelists will address the rise in popularity of music sampling in popular music and explore the complex licensing and clearance issues implicated through the practice.  These issues include new business models, such as sample clearing houses and statutory fees.  The panel will include music industry litigators, in-house counsel from Warner Bros. Records, the founder of Public Enemy (the famous rap group), and an NYU Professor of Musicology.

For more information regarding the panel, please click here.