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 »

Probably the most critical set of provisions in a technology development contract is the one that defines the parties’ respective rights to use and exploit the developed technology–and its individual components–outside of the relationship formed by the contract.

At its core, the relationship between the developer and “developee”–the entity who is need of development assistance–has certain natural tensions and the parties’ interests are somewhat in conflict from the outset.  To better understand, let’s look at the hypothetical relationship between a “developee”–who we’ll call ACME, and the developer–who we’ll call JCN Corp. Continue Reading »

What’s new in digital media?   Subscribe to digitalhhr.com to receive today’s news:

• The New York Times has a piece on Facebook Connect, a new initiative to extend the web’s most popular social networking service to other web sites. 
• The Huffington Post just closed a new round of financing totaling $25 million, bringing the company’s valuation to $100 million.  More info here. 
• Digital music sales will continue to grow, reaching 41 percent of total sales by 2013, according to a report by Jupiter Research.  However, overall growth will continue to drop from annual sales of $10.2 billion to $9.8 billion.
• A new study on web video viewing habits may help marketers refine their ad strategies.  According to TubeMogul, only 16.62% of folks who click on a three-minute video will watch it all the way through.  While this sounds like a nail in the coffin for post-rolls, marketers seeking “true believers” (i.e. those sitting through an entire video) may see the post-roll as a cost-effective approach.
• Microsoft and Blockbuster collaborate to deliver video on demand to mobile devices.  Click here for more info. 

We recently had an opportunity to explore and write about the current trends and challenges in Latin America’s expanding digital marketplace.  The article below appeared in Volume 7, Issue 8 of LATINLAWYER magazine, www.LATINLAWYER.com. 

    Winning the Digital Race

Dan was named one of the “Top 50 under 45“ by IP Law and Business magazine.