HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

The next interactive gaming revolution will soon be ushered in by a wave of gesture detection control systems, where the player’s body controls the action.  Beginning this year, game developers and publishers will have the technology to develop a viable motion capture-based game, one with more potential applications than any gaming console or system released to date.  Using a TV-mounted motion detection camera and a handheld controller, the PlayStation Motion Controller (rumored to be named the “Arc”) will be capable of recognizing and tracking a user’s face and voice as well as body motion.  Similarly, Microsoft’s Project Natal system for the Xbox 360 will use a TV-mounted motion detection camera that will track the movement of every part of the body, and capture, for the first time, a three-dimensional representation of the player on the screen completely sans gaming controllers. Now, as consumers await the release of a slew of motion capture games scheduled for retail this holiday season, publishers and developers alike need to brace themselves for the myriad of potential legal issues concerning the ownership and licensing of the movements replicated and featured in those games. Continue Reading »

ASCAP is suing AT&T for failure to pay public performance royalties for their sale of musical ringtones. According to ASCAP’s opposition to AT&T’s  recently filed motion, ASCAP rebukes AT&T’s claim that a ringtone is no different than a song downloaded from iTunes and therefore does not require the payment of performance royalties. In response, ASCAP argues that when a ringtone plays to signal an incoming call, the public performance right is triggered in two ways—once when the ringtone is digitally transmitted to the phone (via the streaming transmission/delivery) and again when the song is actually played on the consumer’s phone to the public. According to the filing and a statement released by ASCAP, AT&T, and not the consumer, is then directly liable and responsible for the corresponding public performance royalties because the consumers’ phones are on AT&T’s network, and AT&T controls the entire series of steps that allow and trigger the ringtone performance based on incoming calls. Continue Reading »

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• The Performance Rights Act, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on May 13th, would levy fees on broadcasters for airing artists’ recordings. An indication of the heat generated by the debate over the PRA emerged this week when the musicFIRST Coalition, however, filed a complaint asking the FCC to investigate whether radio stations have been boycotting artists that support the PRA. The coalition’s filing accuses broadcasters of airing deceptive spots by portraying the proposed royalty as a “tax” and not airing musicFIRST’s own paid ad endorsements. While musicFIRST did not identify any specific station or broadcaster withholding airplay, the coalition alleged that several stations have refused to play an artist’s music based on his or her remarks or affiliation with endorsing the legislation. Spokesman Marty Machowsky said it would only identify specifics if the FCC initiates the proceeding and agrees to keep the information confidential. Continue Reading »

UPDATE (4/14/09, 12:14 pm):  The court found the Pirate Bay defendants guilty and sentenced them to 1 year in prison and ordered them to pay $3.6 million in damages to several record labels.

Tomorrow a Swedish court is expected to announce it’s ruling in a criminal case that has been closely watched by nearly everyone with a stake-financial or otherwise-in the free-wheeling world of P2P file swapping.  At its core, the ruling will determine whether the operators of the Pirate Bay, the popular torrent search and indexing site, are guilty of violating Sweden’s copyright law.  A conviction-which many observers expect-could lead to imprisonment and a possible fine, as well as a shut-down of the site.  However, despite the potential immediate impact on the Pirate Bay and its operators, the broader implications of a guilty verdict, including whether or not it will serve as a deterrent against unauthorized file-sharing, are a little less certain. Continue Reading »

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• The FCC announced plans to impose more than $12 million in fines on 600 telecoms that failed to file paperwork last year detailing how they are going to protect the privacy of their customers.  The FCC is seeking the fines because many of the phone companies, internet telephone service providers and calling-card companies that are supposed to make the detailed annual reports are not complying with the current rules. 
• In a week where we’ve read so much about newspapers becoming obsolete, a new survey by The Rosen Group has found that the majority of Americans still consider print to be a vital source for their news and entertainment even though a third of us consider websites to be our number one source of information. 
• According to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, internet gambling, which was banned in 2006, could bring in over $52 billion in tax revenue over 10 years.  That may be one of the factors driving a decision to reintroduce legislation in Congress to overturn the ban. 
• A two-year old lawsuit filed by Eminem’s production company against Universal Music Group seeking about $1.3 million in unpaid digital music royalties finally went to court this week and its outcome could have a profound effect on the digital music business.  The issue is whether digital music downloads fall under “distribution” or “licensing” agreements — the latter giving artists a 50% take on royalties earned.