New York - A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that digital music and media downloads are not "public performances," and therefore should not be subject to a public performance license and additional royalty payment. [more..]

Los Angeles - Sony Pictures Entertainment said on Wednesday that, contrary to news reports, an investigation by the company has found no pirated DVD copies of its forthcoming "Spider-Man 3" film in China, or on the Internet. [more..]

Oklahoma City, Okla. - A woman sued by major record labels for copyright infringement on file-sharing networks has fought the charges, and been awarded attorneys' fees in the case. [more..]

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s MySpace online social network announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with reality TV show producer Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice") on a multiplatform political reality show. [more..]

Beijing - U.S. movie studios have won their fourth case in six months against Chinese sellers of pirated DVDs, as a Beijing court ordered a Chinese shop to pay $25,000 in damages to the studios for selling 13 pirated film titles, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

Cambridge, U.K. - Autonomy, a provider of enterprise and consumer search technology, announced on Wednesday that it will exercise an option to buy consumer video search provider Blinkx, merge its own consumer search division with the company, and file for an initial public offering on London's AIM exchange next month. [more..]

Burlingame, Calif. - Limbo 41414, the developer of a Web and mobile entertainment product called the Limbo Auction, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in new financing, led by New Enterprise Associates. [more..]

Aalst, Belgium - Netlog (formerly Facebox), a provider of social networking sites across eight European countries, announced that it has raised $6.8 million in its first round of venture funding, led by Index Ventures. [more..]

New York - Volunteers with the Wikipedia project are developing a static version of the online encyclopedia for distribution and sale on CD, intended primarily for those with limited Internet access, the Associated Press reported. The $14 Wikipedia CD will feature only about 2,000 of the 1.7 million articles available on the site, and attempts to avoid subjects likely to change over time. [more..]

Atlanta - Intent MediaWorks, a distributor of licensed media content and advertising on peer-to-peer networks and other platforms, on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with video-sharing site Revver, that will see the companies distribute each other's content online. Revver said it will be the first online video company to distribute user-generated videos on peer-to-peer networks. Intent will create multiple channels on Revver, populated with music videos and other content from artists represented by Violator Management, Nettwerk Music and others. Like others posting on Revver, Intent will receive a share of ad revenue generated by its content. [more..]

Los Angeles - Musictoday, an online music distributor majority-owned by concert promotion giant Live Nation, announced on Wednesday that the band Gov't Mule, fronted by Warren Haynes of The Allman Brothers Band, has now sold over one million downloads of its live recordings on the service. Musictoday lets artists create their own online stores, and sell MP3 or FLAC format tracks, as well as other items, directly to their fans. [more..]

Barcelona - Acquamedia Technologies, a Spain-based mobile content retailer, announced that it has launched a monthly subscription service that provides unlimited full-track mobile song downloads. The All The Latest unlimited service, which features a catalog of over 1 million tracks, will initially be available in the U.K. and Latin America, with plans to expand into additional countries later this year. [more..]

Englewood, Colo. - EchoStar Communications, operator of the DISH Network satellite TV service, said on Wednesday that it has partnered with interactive video developer Ensequence and Gemstar-TV Guide International on a new interactive TV application, slated to launch in the second quarter. DISH Network subscribers will be able to launch the TV Guide Channel application using their remotes, and receive programming recommendations in up to 10 different categories, as well as set program reminders and digital video recordings. [more..]

Los Angeles - Indie911, a service that lets independent artists distribute music and connect with fans, announced that it has partnered with APM Music, a joint venture of EMI Music Publishing and BMG Music Publishing. The agreement will allow Indie911 artists to submit music to APM for consideration for use in commercial TV shows, films, commercials and online media. [more..]

Fremont, Calif. - Logitech, a maker of PC peripherals and distributor of the Squeezebox, a standalone device that plays music streamed from the Internet, on Wednesday announced a partnership with MP3Tunes, provider of an online locker storage service for digital music. Under the deal, Squeezebox owners will be able to stream their own music collections to the device, after first uploading the music to an MP3Tunes Music Locker, which costs $39.95 per year for unlimited storage.
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Silver Spring, Md. - Freewebs, a service that lets users create multimedia websites and blogs, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with wireless carrier Cingular, to create and promote a widget-based ad campaign. The campaign for Cingular Sounds -- ringtones that promote emerging artists -- on Freewebs allows users to write new lyrics, dance and sing along with up-and-coming artists through multimedia widgets that include text, photos, audio and video. [more..]

Conshohocken, Pa. - PointRoll, a unit of publisher Gannett that provides online ad technology, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with The Aura Group, a provider of Web and wireless ad technologies. Under the deal, The Aura Group will provide technology to PointRoll that will enable movie studios to text local showtimes to users' mobile devices directly via online advertisements. When a consumer rolls over a PointRoll rich media ad, they are prompted to enter their mobile number and zip code to receive local showtimes. [more..]

New York - Manifesto Games, a digital retailer of downloadable computer games, on Wednesday announced the launch of "PeaceMaker," a game that challenges players to take on the role of Israeli Prime Minister or Palestinian President and bring peace to the Middle East. Developed by Impact Games, the title incorporates real-world events and news stories, and can be played in English, Hebrew and Arabic. [more..]