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DMW Daily, October 2, 2008

Top Stories
o Copyright Royalty Board Rejects Rate Hike for Songwriters
o EMI Loses Case Against Robertson; MP3tunes Suit Goes to Trial
o Sony Completes Purchase of Bertelsmann Stake in Sony BMG
o After Months of Talks, Take-Two Opts to Remain Independent
o Nintendo to Release $180 New DS With Camera, Music Features
o Nokia Signs EMI, Indies for Comes With Music
o Indie Music Digital Distributor IODA Confirms Layoffs
o "Slacker Uprising" Hits BitTorrent; Targeted for Takedown
o Report: Swedish Digital Music Start-up Spotify Lands $21 Million
o Smoking Gun Interactive Gets Multi-Million Investment
o Digini Lands Funding for 3D Game Development Tools
o Out-of-Home Ad Firms Fuelcast, Bhootan Merge to Form Outcast
Opinion & Analysis
o Watch Live uStream Video From Digital Music Forum West!
Briefly Noted
o Obama Campaign Releases iPhone Fundraising, Recruiting App
o Google Incorporating Post-Roll Ads on YouTube Videos
o Paramount Inks Digital Cinema Deal With Kodak
o Sirius XM Radio Debuts "Best of Both" Service Packages
o YouTube to Host First Live Streaming Event Next Month
o Mobile Messenger to Offer EMI Ringtones
 Top Stories
o Copyright Royalty Board Rejects Rate Hike for Songwriters 
Washington - The rate that digital retailers like Apple's iTunes must pay songwriters and music publishers will stay the same under a decision handed down Thursday by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which rejected the publishers' petition for a 66% rate hike. [more..]
o EMI Loses Case Against Robertson; MP3tunes Suit Goes to Trial 
San Diego - A federal judge has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by major label EMI against Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com and current head of digital music locker firm MP3tunes, but allowed the label's lawsuit against MP3tunes to proceed to trial. [more..]
o Sony Completes Purchase of Bertelsmann Stake in Sony BMG 
New York - Sony Corp. said on Thursday that it has completed its $1.2 billion purchase of Bertelsmann's 50% stake in their Sony BMG record label joint venture, ending the partnership the companies embarked on back in 2004. [more..]
o After Months of Talks, Take-Two Opts to Remain Independent 
New York - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive announced on Thursday that, following talks with a number of suitors over the last several months, and in the wake of a failed $2 billion takeover bid from rival Electronic Arts, it will remain an independent company.
[more..]
o Nintendo to Release $180 New DS With Camera, Music Features 
Tokyo - Nintendo has announced plans to introduce a new model of its handheld DS game system that be lighter and slimmer yet sport larger dual screens, two built-in 0.3-megapixel digital cameras, an SD card slot, Web browser and music player software. [more..]
o Nokia Signs EMI, Indies for Comes With Music 
London - Nokia on Thursday announced that major label EMI and a number of independents have signed deals to add their tracks to its "Comes With Music" service, which provides buyers of new phones with a year's worth of unlimited song downloads. [more..]
o Indie Music Digital Distributor IODA Confirms Layoffs 
San Francisco - Independent music digital distributor IODA laid off about 15% of its staff last month, CNET News.com reported, citing a source affiliated with the company. [more..]
o "Slacker Uprising" Hits BitTorrent; Targeted for Takedown 
Los Angeles - Lawyers representing Westside Productions, owners of the copyrights to Michael Moore's new documentary "Slacker Uprising," have sent a takedown notice seeking to have the film -- which Moore offered for free download to users in the U.S. and Canada -- removed from a BitTorrent file-sharing hub, TorrentFreak reported. [more..]
o Report: Swedish Digital Music Start-up Spotify Lands $21 Million 
London - Spotify, a Swedish firm developing an ad-supported digital music service that will reportedly stream songs via encrypted peer-to-peer technology, has raised over $21 million in funding from investors including Northzone Venture Partners, TechCrunch UK reported. [more..]
o Smoking Gun Interactive Gets Multi-Million Investment 
Vancouver, Canada - Independent video game studio Smoking Gun Interactive announced on Thursday that it has finalized a multi-year, multi-million dollar financing agreement with private investors. [more..]
o Digini Lands Funding for 3D Game Development Tools 
Issaquah, Washington - Digini, a developer of 3D video game development tools, announced on Thursday that it has received an undisclosed amount of new funding from California Technology Ventures. [more..]
o Out-of-Home Ad Firms Fuelcast, Bhootan Merge to Form Outcast 
Santa Monica, Calif. - Fuelcast, the provider of a gas station pump-based digital video ad network, announce on Thursday that it has merged with digital out-of-home ad firm Bhootan to form Outcast, an out-of-home ad network with a claimed monthly reach of over 25 million consumers. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Watch Live uStream Video From Digital Music Forum West! 
n/a
 Briefly Noted
o Obama Campaign Releases iPhone Fundraising, Recruiting App 
Los Angeles - The Obama campaign on Thursday release a volunteer recruiting and political organizing tool application for Apple's iPhone. [more..]
o Google Incorporating Post-Roll Ads on YouTube Videos 
Los Angeles - Google's YouTube has recently expanded its monetization efforts to include post-roll advertisements on videos, NewTeeVee reports. [more..]
o Paramount Inks Digital Cinema Deal With Kodak 
Hollywood - Viacom's Paramount Pictures has announced a partnership with Eastman Kodak to equip U.S. movie theaters for digital cinema. [more..]
o Sirius XM Radio Debuts "Best of Both" Service Packages 
New York - Sirius XM Radio on Thursday debuted its "Best of Both" programming option, which will allow subscribers to each service to pay extra for programming offered by the other. [more..]
o YouTube to Host First Live Streaming Event Next Month 
San Bruno, Calif. - Google's YouTube plans to host its first live streaming event next month in San Francisco, which will feature performances from a mix of both YouTube celebrities and artists including Akon and Will.i.am. [more..]
o Mobile Messenger to Offer EMI Ringtones 
Santa Monica, Calif. - Mobile Messenger, a provider of mobile content management and distribution technology, has announced a deal with major label EMI Music to offer the major label's catalog as ringtones through its service. [more..]