Media Industries Project - Carsey Wolf Center

The San Francisco Bay Guardian is entitled to half the advertising revenue of the rival SF Weekly to help collect $21 million in damages after a jury verdict of illegal price-cutting, a Superior Court commissioner ruled Tuesday.

FCC has created a mobile application that tests the speed and quality of broadband connection.

Can the paywall model compete with free content? The head of digital media at News Corp. seems to think so

Should the FCC change rules that prevent consumers from losing channels during fee disputes between broadcasters and cable operators?

ROME-Google Inc. on Wednesday said it will scan ancient Italian literary texts ranging from Galileo Galilei to herbal medicine manuals as part of the Internet company's first publishing partnership with a national government. The deal involves digitizing up to one million books held in the National Libraries in Rome and Florence.

Science fiction writer Zhou Shaomou has filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Beijing for copyright infringement. Zhou claims in his suit that 80% of "Avatar"'s key elements and plot are the same as his novel, "Tale of the Blue Crows," which was written in 1997.

Emil Malak has sued James Cameron writer for copyright infringement, claiming that Avatar is based on a screenplay he wrote called Terra Incognita in 1998. Malak has said that Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time, bears a striking resemblance to his Terra Incognita, a screenplay he wrote and first copyrighted in 1998.

Discusses framing of Net Neutrality as contested First Amendment terrain, with comments by Kyle McSlarrow, President of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

"We gather all the important stories about media and present them to you in a timely, thorough, and organized manner. Our story selection method uses the power of our freakishly smart algorithm combined with direct editorial input from knowledgeable human editors.We collect every relevant take on an issue and package them together in a comprehensive group of links. That way, you not only get the lead opinion on an issue, but you can easily see all the supporting, opposing, smart, controversial, notable, and previously unseen viewpoints."

"An article published in, The Guardian, discusses a debate taking place in the British Parliament around a new "digital economy bill. One amendment in particular is stirring a lot of discussion about its impact on content online. The Guardian writes: The new proposal - which was passed in the House of Lords by 165 votes to 140 - gives a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against a Web site accused of hosting a "substantial" amount of copyright infringing material, potentially forcing the entire site offline. Critics say the major problem with this amendment is that ajudge could shut down a Web site because of copyright infringement, even if thesite's manager didn't put the content online."

An article published on Thursday in, The Guardian, discusses a debate taking place in the British Parliament around a new "digital economy bill." One amendment in particular is stirring a lot of discussion about its impact on content online. The Guardian writes: The new proposal - which was passed in the House of Lords by 165 votes to 140 - gives a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against a Web site accused of hosting a "substantial" amount of copyright infringing material, potentially forcing the entire site offline. Critics say the major problem with this amendment is that a judge could  shut down a Web site  because of copyright infringement, even if the site's manager didn't put the content online. What is left unanswered is how a company can be held accountable for every piece of content placed on its site.  Many critics of this bill and others in Europe say it is most likely to result in the stifling of creativity, innovation and free speech. In the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act offers some protection against liability to Internet service providers and Web sites that host copyrighted material uploaded by third parties.

Should fashion designs be copyrighted? Books, music, film, and art are protected by copyright law,'' Suk says one afternoon in her law school office. "But fashion is not. I wanted to question all of that. Lots of people take for granted that fashion is an area where creativity is involved, and they also overlook the fact that there is no protection for designers.

Hours before the Oscars, Disney and Cablevision have yet to reach a deal, meaning subscribers in some markets will not be able to watch the show. Executive Vice President Charles Schueler of Cablevision has asked the FCC to involve itself, and both companies have been in contact with the agency.

While some media companies are narrowing their exposure to newspapers, Honolulu Star-Bulletin majority owner David Black is demonstrating his continued bullishness on print media with a bid to buy Canwest LP's chain of daily newspapers. If Black's bid to buy Canwest's newspapers is successful, it would make him the largest newspaper magnate in Canada. Most of Black's newspapers are small weeklies in western Canada. In addition to the Star-Bulletin, Black's U.S. newspapers include the Ohio-based Akron Beacon Journal.

"Nearly two weeks remain before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to deliver its national broadband plan to Congress. But analysts are already picking potential winners and losers based on key themes that have already been identified, such as mobile broadband networks and spectrum swaps. The plan's overarching goal is to give all Americans access to affordable, high-speed broadband Internet."

"Federal regulators are proposing to expand broadband services by tapping a program that now subsidizes phone service in poor and rural areas."