Thursday, November 18, 2010

Future of the Golden Globes?

The New York Times released a story yesterday reporting that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has sued Dick Clark Productions "of trying to misappropriate rights to the Golden Globes by unilaterally entering into a new eight-year contract with NBC." Both the association and the production company have worked together to produce the Golden Globes for years. The lawsuit also asks that anyone except for the association should be blocked from using Golden Globe content without their permission.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is a non profit organizaiton that has controlled the Golden Globes since the 1940's. Representatives of the association feel that they should own rights to the Golden Globes and Dick Clark Productions has jepordized that by signing this contract with NBC.

I think that the association seems to have the most control over the show and therefore should get to have rights. Dick Clark Productions only helps with the production of the show and should not be able to share the content of the show with others including NBC unless otherwised cleared to do so. A contract is a contract, and you must follow the rules. I think that it is a good business move for the association to excersise their rights to protect the content of the Golden Globes, which has a growing fan base.

Thanks for reading

Read the original story here: Dick Clark Productions Sued over Golden Globes Deal

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Putting the ropes on Netflix

While many people including myself enjoy the services of Netflix, it seems that others are very unhappy with it's sucess. Various DVD manufacturers such as Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Lionsgate want to limit Netflix's reign so that they may begin to, agian, capitalize on their DVD sales. Digital Entertainment Group reported that there was a "14% decrease" in standard DVD sales in "the first three quarters of the year".

Despite the decrease in standard DVD sales, DVD manufacturers are planning to push Blu-Ray DVDs, which aren't seeing such high decreases. Netflix doesn't seem to mind the potential restrictions, responding by saying, "While there are things in the Netflix system that are clearly cannabilistic, there are things we can change. They can pay us more or we can reduce the quality of what they give them."

I personally own Netflix, and this story upsets me. I understand that major companies are hurting with DVD sales, I personally haven't purchased a DVD in awhile. It would be a great business move for these companies to put restrictions on netflix and I understand that. However, I enjoy the services of netflix, I like the freedom to stream movies instantly and to get DVD's mailed to my house and keep them as long as I want. It also seems that they are not keeping the cosumers in mind (as usual). The response from Netflix seems to state a potential for poor quality videos or higher prices. As a consumer, I do not want to be forced to purchase DVD's, pay a higher price for Netflix, OR be forced to watch poor video quality. I think the better business move for these companies is to use Netflix to their advantage. I hope these potential restrictions don't go through! I love Netflix!

Thanks for reading,

Olivia

to read the full story: How Hollywood Will Squeeze Netflix