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Texas Instruments Signs Digital Cinema Deal with Landmark Theaters

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 6, 2006 - 6:13am.
Las Vegas - Texas Instruments (TI) announced on Friday that movie theater owner Landmark Theaters will use TI's DLP Cinema digital cinema projection systems in its theaters. Owned by dot-com billionaire Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, Landmark operates 215 screens in 23 markets in the U.S. Under the deal, Landmark will install DLP projectors from Barco in select Landmark theaters, as well as collaborate with TI to promote the deployment of digital cinema. Landmark will screen Steven Soderbergh's film "Bubble" digitally on Jan. 27, on the same date the film is released on DVD and aired on Landmark owner Cuban's HDNet high-definition cable TV network.
tags: Deals | Digital Cinema | Theaters | Texas Instruments | Landmark |

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Landmark File-Sharing Copyright Case

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 29, 2005 - 8:10am.
Washington -- Oral arguments were presented to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in MGM v. Grokster, the landmark copyright infringement case pitting the entertainment industry against makers of peer-to-peer file-sharing software. CNET News.com reported that while the justices "were critical of the entertainment industry's proposal, which would hold companies 'predominantly' supported by piracy liable for copyright infringement," they also "showed little sympathy for the file-swapping companies' business model." The Associated Press reported that justices "wondered aloud whether such lawsuits might have discouraged past inventions like copy machines, videocassette recorders and iPod portable music players," while also asking "whether profits from trafficking in stolen property can rightfully be used to help finance a young technology business." The Los Angeles Times reported that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor "suggested a software firm could be sued and put out of business if it drew customers by touting its system as a way to obtain free copies of copyrighted music," a compromise short of allowing lawsuits against any peer-to-peer software company. Outside the court, a group of Nashville musicians protested on behalf of the entertainment industry, while file-sharing advocates carried signs with messages such as "Save Betamax."
tags: Law | Landmark | Supreme Court | File-Sharing Copyright Case |

Sony, Bertelsmann Agree to Landmark Record Label Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2003 - 8:14am.
New York -- In a landmark agreement that will create the world's second-largest record label and reduce the five major record labels to just four, Japan's Sony Corp. and Germany's Bertelsmann have announced an agreement to merge their record label businesses. The new 50-50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group will be named Sony BMG, and will not include a merger of the companies' respective music publishing, manufacturing or physical distribution businesses. Bertelsmann CEO Gunter Thielen told Reuters he expects the deal to close within two months, assuming the agreement passes antitrust muster in both the U.S. and European Union.
tags: Sony | Bertelsmann | Label | Landmark |

Grokster, Morpheus File Briefs in RIAA Appeal of Landmark P2P Ruling

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 17, 2003 - 6:44am.
Los Angeles -- Two file-sharing services that won a landmark court ruling placing the burden of copyright infringement with individual users on Wednesday filed briefs in an appeal of that ruling brought by the music and movie industries. The original ruling said that Grokster and Streamcast Networks, which operates Morpheus, were not guilty of copyright infringement -- starkly contrasting the case against Napster, which was found guilty of copyright infringement. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) filed their appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in August; Grokster and Streamcast Networks filed their response on Wednesday. "Instead of asking the court to deputize every technology vendor to enforce their copyrights for them, they should license the technology at a fair price," Grokster president Wayne Rosso told Reuters. "Five bucks a month from each of 60 million filesharers beats the hell out of filing a federal case to get $2,000 from a 12-year-old girl." http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=3461990 
tags: P2P | RIAA | Morpheus | Grokster | Landmark |

Microsoft to Equip 177 Landmark Theaters Screens With Digital Cinema

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 3, 2003 - 3:19am.
Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced on Thursday that it has partnered with independent movie theater owner Landmark Theaters to equip 177 screens, covering all 53 Landmark locations, with digital cinema playback systems. The system will use -based Digital Cinema Solutions' hardware and will be based on Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series digital video technology. Microsoft said it expects the digital cinema upgrades to be completed by the end of 2003. "Landmark Theatres' commitment to specialty film and its established leadership in the independent exhibition space offers Microsoft the perfect opportunity to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the independent film community," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.
tags: Digital Cinema | Microsoft | Theaters | Landmark |