What’s The Hold-Up On That Netflix Original Star Trek Series?
Viacomkhaaaaaaan!
Earlier this month Larry Nemecek disappointed many of us by debunking a rumor that Netflix and CBS were in talks to produce a new Star Trek series. Sigh. But it seems the dream may become a reality yet!
Read MoreFCC Fines Networks Millions for Airing Olympus Has Fallen Emergency Alert Trailer
I guess they're taking a break from the important work of stopping people from saying dirty words.
When the Olympus Has Fallen trailer aired last year, you were being subjected to dangerous desensitization to more than just crappy movies: Your innate ability to be mildly inconvenienced brought to a state of alert by the Emergency Alert System was damaged when networks aired the trailer. But don't worry, the FCC is on it.
Viacom’s Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against YouTube Goes Forward, Threatening DMCA’s Few Useful Qualities
Way back in 2007, Viacom filled a billion dollar suit against YouTube claiming that YouTube was purposefully turning a blind eye to copyright infringing content in order to boost the site's popularity. The suit didn't last long however, and soon a court threw the case out based on the fact that YouTube, by cooperating with DMCA takedown requests and removing allegedly infringing content, fell under the DMCA's "Safe Harbor" protection, rendering the site protected from lawsuits so long as they were clearly trying to keep things under control. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed that decision, and YouTube is back in the hotseat, apparently for not trying hard enough, which is utterly ridiculous. In fact, they're already trying too hard.
Viacom Pulls Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us Trailer, Taken Down From Naughty Dog's Own Site
As you may know, Viacom is particularly jealous of its copyright. Viacom videos on YouTube that aren't supposed to be there do not last long at all. In addition to that, it seems that Viacom has moved on to getting rid of videos that are only tangentally related to it, like Naughty Dog's The Last of Us trailer. Yesterday, the trailer was pulled by from YouTube, leaving a hole in the game's official site, all on the grounds that Viacom somehow owned it just because it initially aired on the VGAs on Viacom-owned Spike TV. It's back now, but come on.
Read MoreViacom Sells Guitar Hero and Rock Band Creator Harmonix for $49.99
Viacom sold Guitar Hero and Rock Band creator Harmonix to investment group Columbus Nova for $49.99--a fraction of the price of one of their bundled Rock Band releases--All Things Digital reports. The $49.99 also includes music rights, as well as responsibility for unsold inventory.
The price may seem oddly low, but it's more of a formality than anything, considering Columbus Nova took on all of Harmonix's liabilities in the sale, and the deal was structured in such a way that Viacom makes about $150 million in tax benefits off the deal.
Even though Viacom was trying to rid itself of the renowned game developers (which is an odd thing to say) and ends up making back most of the money it spent when it bought Harmonix for $175 million in 2006, still, $49.99? Makes you wonder why some other big game developer didn't snatch up Harmonix on a slight gamble, as Harmonix is most assuredly going to turn their poor Rock Band 3 sales right around with whatever their next innovative project ends up being.
(All Things Digital via Eurogamer)
Read MoreViacom Selling Guitar Hero and Rock Band Creator Harmonix, World Going to Hell
Viacom wants to sell Harmonix, creator of the wildly popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band gaming franchises, and basically the team who popularized the rhythm game genre. Specific reasons haven't been revealed yet, but one can only assume it has to do with the oddly sluggish sales of the stellar Rock Band 3. If any company out there has any sense of greatness and accomplishment, they should really hop on the Harmonix bandwagon and buy them up pronto.
Read MoreCourt Rules in Favor of Google/YouTube Against Viacom
Remember the golden days when people watched Daily Show clips on YouTube (for that matter, remember when you could watch them on Hulu)? Well, those clips (and 100,000 others) led to a lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube-owning Google that had its ruling today. In the end, the judge ruled in Google's favor which means the company won't have to pay Viacom the hefty $1 billion worth of damages that Viacom was asking for.
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