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MPAA
Chief and 'E-Publisher' Shout It Out at
Broadcasters Meeting
Film
Monday, February 26, 2001
2:40:32 PM EST
As has been his mode of
late, Motion Picture Association of America CEO
Jack Valenti took the opportunity of a keynote
address at the North American Broadcasters
Association dinner last night to rail against
unusual was the confrontation afterward. Troy Cory,
whose business card bills him as
"ePublisher/Editor" for Television International
Publications, stood up from the media table and
demanded to ask a question after Valenti spoke.
What ensued was a somewhat
rambling discourse on how the MPAA was trying to
kill free speech, destroy Napster founder Shawn
Fanning's years of work, and even put Fanning in
jail. Valenti, who couldn't get a word in edgewise,
eventually invited Cory up to the podium, where he
continued going on; it soon devolved into Valenti
and Cory standing face to face and shouting each
other down.
Valenti suggested Cory
needed medical attention; Cory claimed Valenti was
trying steal entertainment materials that people
rightfully owned. Cory was eventually pulled off
the podium and escorted back to his seat while the
assembled crowd cheered. April 23, 2001 3:32 p.m.
ET
Jack
Valenti Declared:
The following
is an excerpt
of the declaration
that Jack Valenti submitted on behalf of the
recording industry in the case in which members of
the industry are suing Napster. The full
declaration and that of others are available at
http://www.riaa.com/napster_legal.cfm.
The copyright community is
the largest contributor to this nation's economy.
The intellectual property created by these
industries generates over $64 billion annually in
international revenues alone -- more than
automobiles and auto parts, more than aircraft,
more than agriculture. It produces jobs at three
times the annual rate of the American economy as a
whole.
The Copyright Assembly was
formed because its members are deeply concerned
about the future of creative works, particularly in
light of the explosive growth of the Internet. All
of the members of the The Copyright Assembly are
actively embracing new Internet opportunities for
consumers, and are developing new, incentive
business models to deliver our creative works in a
manner that can make them available to consumers
via the Internet. Hundreds of millions of dollars
are now being invested by our members to develop
this new economy. They are all eager to be part of
this revolutionary technology
However, we also worry
lest the great potential, the immense future worth
of the Internet, becomes tangled by overt and
covert piracy of copyrighted material. As
legitimate businesses emerge on the Internet,
illegitimate intruders find the Internet a haven.
Piracy of copyrighted material is already a
multi-billion dollar problem worldwide. For
example, an estimated 38 percent of all software
programs used worldwide in 1998 was pirated, at a
market value of $11 billion and a loss of 109,000
American jobs. And, the economic impact of piracy
stems well beyond the creative industries alone. It
harms economies worldwide in the form of lost jobs
and decreased tax revenues, and by inhibiting
electronic commerce.
- 07
LKIEN GAME DEVELOPER DROPS SUIT AGAINST SIERRA
ON-LINE
- Friday, April 27 01:34
p.m.
-
- J.R.R. Tolkien fans
looking forward to playing the upcoming
online
- role-playing game
based on his Middle Earth characters can get
their
- joysticks warmed with
the news that a lawsuit between the
game's
- producer and developer
disappeared less than a week after it was
filed.
- MM3D announced
Thursday that it withdrew its $10 million
lawsuit against
- Sierra On-Line. "MM3D
is happy to announce that we are dismissing
the
- lawsuit (without
prejudice) on 04/26/01. We are grateful to
Sierra for their
- good faith and for the
efforts they are taking to resolve this
matter,"
- MM3D said in a
statement posted to its Web site. MM3D sued
Sierra in
- Los Angeles Superior
Court on April 20, claiming it breached a
contract to
- create what is being
called "Tolkien Online RPG" by attempting to
force
- developer MM3D to
accept diminished terms and 50 percent cut
in
- revenue from the
project. Plans for the game had been kept secret
until
- the suit revealed the
troubled negotiation.
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- SPRINGTIME FOR CLEAR
CHANNEL
- Friday, April 27 10:29
a.m.
-
- Clear Channel, the
largest radio broadcaster in history, revealed
in its
- first-quarter earnings
call Thursday that it has a 20 percent stake in
the
- Broadway smash The
Producers, based on Mel Brooks' 1968 film.
The
- play, starring Matthew
Broderick and Nathan Lane, has been
blessed
- with glowing reviews
and record sales ($6.5 million of tickets sold
in the
- five days after it
opened). But Clear Channel's interest has less
to do
- with an eye for an art
than for long-term strategy. "Please keep in
mind
- that we invest in
Broadway plays to secure that content for
touring," noted
- Lowry Mays, chief
executive officer. Clear Channel Communications
plays
- in the touring space
through its SFX subsidiary. Mays expects
The
- Producers to run on
Broadway for the next several years and go out
on
- tour in two years.
"It's certainly great to have a super hit like
The
- Producers," he said.
The owner of 1,200 U.S. radio stations could
sure
- use a hit. The company
reported a larger loss for the first quarter
of
- 2001, a loss of 53
cents a share, compared to a loss of 12 cents a
share
- in 2000. Analysts'
consensus estimate, according to First
Call/Thompson
- Financial, was a loss
of 45 cents a share.
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- FIRESIDE PAYS $2
MILLION FOR A YOGIC WAY OF LIFE
- Thursday, April 26
06:13 p.m.
-
- Simon & Schuster's
Fireside imprint is adding another yogi to its
yoga
- books list -- and this
one came with a $2 million price tag.
Caroline
- Sutton just closed a
two-book deal with Massachusetts-based
yoga
- master Baron Baptiste.
The deal (North American rights only) calls
for
- the books to come out
in hardcover, which means the first one, due
in
- Spring 2002, will be
only the second hardcover the trade
paperback
- publisher will have
released. "We are dedicated to publishing books
in
- the right format,"
says Sutton. The as-yet-untitled first book will
be full of
- four-color
illustrations, but as Sutton points out, it
won't just be a book of
- different poses. It
will also include chapters on motivational
techniques,
- meditation and a
cleansing diet. "It's not just about the
postures,"
- explains Sutton. "We
really see him as more than just the next big
yoga
- guy. It's a whole life
plan."
-
- Baptiste, who writes a
column for Yoga Journal, practices a kind of
power
- yoga that, according
to his Web site, has Helen Hunt cooing, "Doing
yoga
- with Baron has a
profound effect on me physically, mentally
and
- emotionally. It's a
wonderful experience." Thanks to a recent
Time
- magazine cover article
and an Oprah embrace earlier this month,
yoga
- has certainly been on
the mind of Americans lately. And it
probably
- doesn't hurt that
Madonna, Christy Turlington (who has her own
yoga
- book deal with with
Hyperion), Gwyneth Paltrow and various other
stars
- are among its
adherents. But Sutton says that the acquisition
is definitely
- not a matter of
jumping on the bandwagon. "I've had my eye on
Baron
- for a long
time."
-
- - - - - - - -
-
- TOP STORIES ON
INSIDE: April 27, 2001
-
- TIME-SHIFTING
HOLLYWOOD IS CAUGHT UP IN THE
- SUMMER BOX-OFFICE RACE
-- FOR 2002
- With four big summer
pictures slotted, Columbia looks
- like the likely
leader. Spider-Man, Stuart Little 2,
Deeds
- and Men in Black 2
hark back to the Mark Canton
- 'spend-big, win-big'
strategy.
-
- RATINGS REPORT: CBS'S
THURSDAY HITS OUTSHINE
- NBC'S
SUPERSTARS
- Heavy promotion and
big-name guests aren't enough to
- boost 'Must-See'
comedies back ahead of Survivor and
- CSI. Still, ER keeps
NBC first for the opening night of
the
- May sweep.
-
- NEW SALES: SIMON &
SCHUSTER GOES ON A SHOPPING
- SPREE, SNAGS A HOT
YOGI AND BETTE MIDLER
- Nonfiction -- ranging
from yoga to Sudan's 'lost boys' --
- was the first order of
business this week, especially for
- S&S and its
various imprints.
-
- BUSINESS 2.0 TO CLOSE
EUROPEAN OPERATIONS
- Future Network,
publisher of the New Economy mag,
says
- it will lay off 80 in
Europe. Company is reportedly still
in
- talks with a potential
buyer for its U.S. edition.
-
- THE GLOSSIES: VANITY
FAIR PROBES 'THE ROCK'
- In a wide-ranging
interview, George Wayne quizzes the
- WWF superstar about
his penis and his prostate. Plus:
- Ian Frazier dissects
Dubya's 'clueless stare.'
- ///
- 06
HARPER'S BAZAAR'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH ESTEE LAUDER
HEIRESSES
- Thursday, April 26
04:34 p.m.
-
- Move over, Conde Nast:
Hearst proves that it can play
- logrolling-in-our-time
just as well as its corporate rival. Remember
back
- in August, when Conde
Nast's Vanity Fair included a 14-page spread
of
- the latest "It Girls"?
The magazine was asking for trouble; four of
the
- women annointed as
"it" were subsequently outed as members of
the
- Conde Nast family:
Vogue fashion features writer Plum Sykes, Vanity
Fair
- associate fashion
editor Patricia Herrera, Vogue contributing
editor
- Marina Rust and
medical student Samantha Boardman, who has
been
- associated with
editorial director James Truman).
-
- Now it's Harper's
Bazaar's turn. In the May issue of the
magazine,
- Harper's includes a
"Best Dressed 2001" -- photos and profiles of
the
- usual suspects (Kate
Moss, Sofia Coppola), along with Estee
Lauder
- heiresses Aerin and
Jane Lauder. OK, so Aerin, Estee Lauder's
vice
- president of global
advertising, and Jane, executive director of
treatment
- marketing for Clinique
(an Estee Lauder brand), don't work for
Harper's
- Bazaar -- but they're
certainly in the magazine enough. When
editor
- Kate Betts took over
in June 1999, her first issue included a look at
both
- Aerin and Jane's
homes. In August, Betts invited the sisters to
her
- "Women in Power"
luncheon at Alain Ducasse. And for this year's
Golden
- Globes, a Harper's
Bazaar reporter followed Aerin on her social
circuit
- rounds. Add to that
this month's "Best Dressed" feature, and you've
got
- two sisters on
Harper's permanent guest list. The relationship
seems
- more than a little
advertorial, considering that Estee Lauder was
ranked
- 24th among all
magazine advertisers in the year 2000. (And yes
-- of
- course -- Estee Lauder
and Clinique have ads in the magazine's
May
- issue.)
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- BLOOMBERG CUTS STAFF
LUNCHES ON EVE OF ELITE BELTWAY BASH
- Thursday, April 26
04:15 p.m.
-
- It seems like
financial-journalism entrepreneur Michael
Bloomberg's
- recent attempt at
belt-tightening is aimed right at his
reporters'
- waistlines. Last
Friday, Bloomberg's Washington, D.C., bureau
dropped
- one of the staff's
favorite perks: daily catered luncheons from
area
- restaurants. Bureau
employees are already reminiscing about
the
- enormous plates of
sandwiches from the Wall Street Deli and the
platters
- of chicken and beef
from the pricey downtown eatery Red Sage that
were
- regularly wheeled into
Bloomberg's National Press Club offices. The
loss
- of free food stands in
stark contrast to the several hundred
thousand
- dollars the potential
New York City Republican mayoral candidate
is
- spending to host
Washington's most exclusive -- and excessive --
White
- House Correspondents'
Dinner after-party this Saturday. The A-list
gala
- attracts movie stars,
celebrity pundits, high-powered politicians
and
- plenty of
gate-crashers, all eager to drink Bloomberg's
top-shelf booze
- and eat from a spread
that in the past has included a Russian vodka
and
- caviar room, a full
sushi bar and table after table laden with
rare
- cheeses, smoked salmon
and lamb chops. "It's ancient Rome,"
recalls
- one of last year's
partygoers. Bloomberg spokeswoman Chris Taylor
says
- the catered lunches
were never meant to be a daily perk and that
they
- are being eliminated
because the bureau is overcrowded. "It has
nothing
- to do with economics,"
says Taylor. "We still have plenty of free
food."
- Indeed, the bureau
(like all Bloomberg offices) has available
to
- employees a snack bar
that puts many gas station mini-marts to
shame.
- Still, some staffers
say the move is clearly financial. "We're
talking about
- a lot of money here,"
notes one reporter.
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- TEXAS PAPERS LOSE OUT
WITH BUSH IN WASHINGTON
- Thursday, April 26
10:56 a.m.
-
- President George W.
Bush seems confident that he doesn't need to
worry
- about Texas's
electoral votes in 2004. In what local reporters
say is a
- pattern, Bush this
week snubbed the Texas press, canceling a
planned sit
- down with reporters
and editors from the five Texas metro dailies --
The
- Dallas Morning-News,
The Houston Chronicle, The San
Antonio
- Express-News, The
Austin American-Statesman and The Fort
Worth
- Star-Telegram -- on
the occasion of his first 100 days in office.
The
- group interview,
initially scheduled for Friday, was going to
come after
- individual meetings
with The New York Times, The Washington Post
and
- the networks -- all of
which went off without a hitch. The canned
meeting
- is reminiscent of an
earlier pledge to the Longhorn press that Team
Bush
- quickly broke: back in
1999, Bush promised that when he
formally
- announced his
candidacy, he'd give the scoop to home-state
scribes.
- Within weeks, Bush
political strategist Karl Rove had served up
the
- exclusive to The
Times.
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- WIN A TRIP TO PAUL
THEROUX'S HAWAII
- Thursday, April 26
10:17 a.m.
-
- Paul Theroux's novels,
while sophisticated and successful, are
rarely
- considered a day at
the beach. But an unusual publicity campaign for
his
- forthcoming title from
Houghton Mifflin, Hotel Honolulu, is pitching
it
- exactly that way for
readers. To promote the May publication,
"a
- down-at-the-heels
tourist place on a back street two blocks from
the
- beach at Waikiki,
where middle America stays and dreams,"
according to
- the cover flap,
Houghton is offering a "Win a Trip to Paul
Theroux's
- Hawaii" sweepstakes.
Like so many free Bally's gym
membership
- giveaways blanketing
the front windows of Wal-Mart, the
cardboard
- displays will be in
bookstores nationwide the second week in
May.
- Readers simply have to
mail in an entry form for the six-day,
five-night
- trip for two to
Hawaii. (No purchase necessary, of course.)
Theroux
- himself, a sometimes
resident of Hawaii, will provide a sight-seeing
tour
- and lunch at Waikiki
Beach. "This is the extension of publicity --
publicity
- plus," says
uber-publicist Lynn Goldberg, who was not
involved in the
- project. Though rare
for such events to target consumers
instead
- booksellers, it's not
the first time a major publisher took such a
tack. In
- 1999, Houghton offered
readers a trip to New Zealand where
Peter
- Jackson was filming
his trilogy The Lord of the Rings based on
J.R.R.
- Tolkien's stories
about Middle Earth. The publisher is planning a
similar
- sweepstakes this fall
in conjunction with its Best American series.
"We
- asked, 'What's the
quintessential American event?'"
Houghton
- spokesperson Lori
Glazer said. "We'll have a grand-prize trip to
the 2002
- superbowl in New
Orleans."
-
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- WEAKEST LINK LADY SAYS
LET'S MAKE A DEAL WITH NAL
- Wednesday, April 25
05:46 p.m.
-
- She may be an unfit
mother and the newly anointed Most
Despised
- Woman on TV, but Anne
Robinson knows how to strike when the iron
is
- hot. Although Robinson
and her show, The Weakest Link, are barely
two
- weeks old in the
United States, New American Library/Dutton has
just
- picked up Robinson's
autobiography, Memoirs of an Unfit Mother, for
a
- considerable
six-figures. As Inside reported last week, the
book had
- already sold in the
U.K. to Little, Brown UK, and agent Ed Victor
had
- reportedly turned down
a $500,000 offer from one unnamed
stateside
- publisher. Robinson's
editorial and marketing
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