Showbiz Sandbox 401: Redbox Beats Disney At Their Own Copyright Game
February 26, 2018
In the first round of a copyright infringement lawsuit, Disney failed to win an injunction preventing the DVD rental company Redbox from selling digital copies of its films. Instead, a judge ruled that since Redbox is forced to buy retail copies of Disney films, they have the right to sell the digital copy that accompanies each disc. To make matters worse, the federal court faulted Disney for copyright misuse, making the studio vulnerable to an existing countersuit filed by Redbox.
While Disney and Redbox duke it out in court over copyright issues, the cinema-going subscription company MoviePass is suing an upstart competitor named Sinemia over patent infringement while at the same time trying to straighten out its customer service.
In China the Lunar New Year closed out by bringing in $500 million at the box office, the highest weekend tally ever recorded in a single market. In total, the country took in whopping $901 million during the Spring Festival.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why actor Brendan Fraser disappeared from Hollywood, The Weinstein Company is forced into bankruptcy and Netflix debuts its first Arabic content.
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Kevin Smith Reassures Fans After Surviving Widowmaker Heart Attack
http://ew.com/movies/2018/02/26/kevin-smith-heart-attack/
Albert Brooks – Defending Your Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DufE-dcQ70k
comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of February 25, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-february-25-2018-300603800.html
China Box Office Sets New Global Record on Chinese New Year – With No Hollywood Movies
https://www.thewrap.com/china-box-office-sets-new-global-record-on-chinese-new-year/
China’s New Year Box Office Hits Record $901M in One Week
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinas-new-year-box-office-hits-record-901m-one-week-1087735
Better Business Bureau Page on Movie Pass
https://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-reviews/internet-service/moviepass-in-new-york-ny-137535/
MoviePass Sues Subscription Rival Sinemia for Patent Infringement
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/moviepass-sues-sinemia-1202709289/
One Goal by Amy Bass – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2017/06/09/one-goal/
Yiannopoulos Drops Lawsuit Against Simon & Schuster
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/76105-yiannopoulos-drops-lawsuit-against-s-s.html
David Mamet Says He’s Writing a Play About Harvey Weinstein
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-mamet-says-hes-writing-a-play-harvey-weinstein-1088079
HFPA Investigating Brendan Fraser Sexual Assault Claim Against Former President
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hfpa-investigating-brendan-fraser-sexual-assault-claim-president-1087811
Accusations Against Disney Executive Prompt Outrage, Confusion On Broadway
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leeseymour/2018/02/23/accusations-against-disney-chief-prompt-outrage-confusion-on-broadway/
The Weinstein Co. Says It Will Pursue Bankruptcy As Talks Collapse
http://deadline.com/2018/02/the-weinstein-co-to-pursue-bankruptcy-talks-collapse-1202302994/
Independent Filmmakers Are Irate After Amazon Slashed Royalties by 60% on Its Self-Distribution Platform
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-video-direct-plans-to-drastically-change-its-royalty-amount-2018-2
Broadway Hits the Middle School Circuit
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/business/broadway-hits-the-middle-school-circuit.html
Netflix to Launch First Arabic Original on 1 March
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018021950966/netflix-to-launch-first-arabic-original-on-1-march.html
Sinclair Plans to Sell Tribune’s New York, Chicago, San Diego TV Stations to Comply With FCC Ownership Limits
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/sinclair-tribune-new-york-chicago-sell-fcc-1202706640/
Tencent and Baidu in China Censor’s Crosshairs for Allowing Disturbing Children’s Videos
http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2133053/tencent-and-baidu-china-censors-crosshairs-allowing-disturbing-childrens
Alibaba to Stream Popular Disney Movies, TV Shows in China
http://www.etcentric.org/alibaba-to-stream-popular-disney-movies-tv-shows-in-china/
Netflix Lands Worldwide Rights to Next Four Duplass Brothers Films
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/duplass-brothers-netflix-deal-jay-mark-1202706194/
California’s IMDb Age Censorship Law Declared Unconstitutional
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/californias-imdb-age-censorship-law-declared-unconstitutional-1086540
A Prisoner Got a Book Deal. Now the State Wants Him to Pay for His Imprisonment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/books/curtis-dawkins-graybar-hotel-prisoner-book-deal.html
Disney Planning Another ‘Muppets’ Reboot for Its Streaming Service
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/disney-planning-muppets-reboot-streaming-service-1086800
CBS Launches Streaming Sports-News Outlet CBS Sports HQ
http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/cbs-sorts-hq-live-streaming-1202710150/
Fox News Plans a Streaming Service for ‘Superfans’
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/media/fox-news-streaming.html
BBC Raises Licence Fee
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018022351040/bbc-raises-licence-fee.html
Disney Loses Bid to Stop Redbox From Selling Its Digital Download Codes
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/21/17036932/disney-redbox-lawsuit-star-wars-marvel-pixar-digital-downloads
Disney Misused ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Frozen’ Copyrights, Says Judge
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/disney-misused-star-wars-frozen-copyrights-says-judge-1086876
Billy Graham Dead At 99
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/billy-graham-dead-99-evangelist-tv-1202706337/
Sridevi Kapoor, Iconic Bollywood Actress, Dies at 54
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sridevi-kapoor-dead-bollywood-actress-dies-at-54-a-heart-attack-1088203
Oscars 2018: Here Are Our Final Predictions
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/oscars-2018-here-are-our-final-predictions/
Andrew Einspruch Newsletter
http://andreweinspruch.com/newsletter
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