Tagged: gamestechnology

The copyright battle continues on another front as a UK Patents County Court judge found that copyright infringement could occur even if the photo has been recreated from scratch. According to the ruling , " copying a photograph does not require a facsimile reproduction, it is enough to recreate the scene or a substantial part of it. " This could make famous photographic recreations like the ubiquitous Abbey Road parodies and even covers like Rancid 's ... And Out Come The Wolves [...]

Some breaking news coming in from, well, everywhere, as notorious protest group Anonymous have taken down the websites of the Department of Justice and Universal Music. They commented on this saying: It was in retaliation for Megaupload, as was the concurrent attack on Justice.org." Both sites are still down, and more attacks are being mounted; Anonymous members have now targeted the sites of the Motion Picture Association of America and the White House, and other government sites. The whole process is part of what the group has charmingly dubbed "OpDonkeyPunch." [...]

Just a follow up on the events that took place yesterday where many of your favorite sites (like Wikipedia.org and Reddit ) went offline to express their concerns over the SOPA and PIPA copyright bills floating through the house of representatives. Punknews.org was among the many sites who broke from a relatively apolitical stance to argue against this dangerous bill. Our reasoning for this can be found here along with a helpful video which lays out some of the problems and consequences of the legislation. [...]

As you might have noticed, many of your favorite sites have opted to black out or restrict content today. The root of this protest is new legislation that will have a transformative and dangerous effect on the free Internet as we know it. There has been so much chatter about the bills that you could be forgiven for being unsure about what is being proposed and the consequences. Before we explain the bill, it's also significant to note that this is a United States law, but with far reaching consequences that would affect anyone who communicates or interacts with Americans. [...]

The big three major labels - Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have joined together to sue yet-another music service. The latest company to be sued is Napster MP3.com Grokster Limewire Kazaa Gainesville, FL-based Grooveshark , The suit alleges that Grooveshark Chief Executive Samuel Tarantino and others personally uploaded thousands of songs for which they didn't have rights. The only company to have negotiated a deal with the streaming company is [...]

The beloved first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games are headed for HD reissues next year, but unfortunately will likely not include the series' iconic punk and hardcore soundtracks. As Activision community blogger Dan Amrich explains : [The new game] is not a straight reissue; but a new game based on the levels and gameplay from both of those games. Music licensing is a one-time deal. The songs from the original games were only licensed for those specific games on those specific platforms at that specific time. Any other versions created later would need new [...]

While many musicians have been experimenting with directly distributing content to people, one of our favorite comedians, New York-based Louis CK decided to try the same thing with his latest stand up special. He paid for the recording of the performance at the Beacon Theatre at a cost of $170,000 which was the proceeds from the ticket sales; he then sold the show online for $5 in a easily downloadable (and easily shared) format directly from his own website instead of via DVD or through HBO or Comedy Central. He said this: As of [...]

With labels like Century Media , Sumerian Media , Prosthetic Records and distributor STHoldings leaving streaming services, a new Fast Company article talks to the CEOs of MOG, Spotify and Rdio about the controversy. MOG's David Hyman explained how the site pays royalties/revenue to artists: Out of every $10, we pay a (for example) $6 to the label. The [labels] split that $6 amongst themselves based on frequency of plays. So let's say we have 1 million subscribers. So [the label] would get 30% of that $6 million [...]

Yesterday, Google announced the launch of the Google Artist Hub ; significantly, it allows musicians to upload, share and sell music all directly through Google's own platform. While iTunes has workarounds available - like Tunecore - the deal is noticeable in that it is completely manageable by the artists and elminiates the need for a "publisher" like a label or Tunecore to act as gatekeeper to the store. The product acts as a sort of super- Bandcamp in that it also allows bands to post full album streams, [...]

Looks like celebrity-endorsed headphones aren't just the realm of hip hop musicians anymore; the influential (and frequently weird) Lou Reed has launched a new set of Klipsch headphones based on their popular $350 X10i line of iPhone headphones. The Lou Reed models retail for an extra $50 but include a purple remote, Reed's autograph on the remote and a 360-degree mic. Reed has been busy as of late, collaborating with Metallica on the critically panned LuLu which earned him death threats even before it was released. [...]

Another metal label has announced a departure from Spotify , the super-popular, on-demand music streaming service with a huge catalog but tiny royalties for musicians and indie labels. Like Century Media and Prosthetic who previously left the service, Sumerian Records argues that the Spotify model is unsustainable and took to their Twitter to defend the move: We rather be able to send our bands around the world on tour, make music videos and continue to support their careers and livelihood. Go to youTube if you want [...]

More than a quarter century after it's founding, long-running indie/rock magazine Spin is scaling back significantly on their print edition. The most noticeable change is that the magazine will now be published every two months, and the magazine is moving it's "rate base" down to a circulation of 350,000 from 450,000 suggesting a nearly 25% drop in print readership. According to the CEO of Spin Media, Alan Nichols: "It's right-sizing for print." Founded in 1985 by Bob Guccione, Jr., the son of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, the magazine was originally pitched [...]

Record Store Day co-founder Eric Levin has been put in the unfortunate position of possibly having to close his own store, the Atlanta-based Criminal Records . Ironically, the stores growth led to the problems as a recent move to a 6000 square foot space after previously occupying 2500 square feet increased costs and that, coupled with the recession and music downloads - both legal and illegal - led to heavy debt for the store. Levin said: I gave myself until the 20th anniversary and if I was still drowning by [...]

The track listing has been announced for the upcoming soundtrack to Batman: Arkham City . The game is due out October 18th and the soundtrack will be released on October 4, 2011 . The album will feature new material inspired by Batman and feature Panic At The Disco , Coheed and Cambria , The Duke Spirit , Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blaqk Audio , The Raveonettes , (Crosses), The Damned Things , Daughtry, The Boxer Rebellion, Serj Tankian and A Place [...]

US Fish and Wildlife Service has raided Gibson Guitars due to concerns that the beloved guitar manufacturer is using rare, endangered and protected wood to make their legendary fretboards. The company counts musicians like Brian Fallon of Gaslight Anthem , Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters , Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day , Greg Hetson of Bad Religion , Sergie Loobkoff of Samiam , Woody Gutherie, George Harrison and many others among their sponsored musicians and fans. The Wall Street Journal reports : The [...]

EA Sports' latest NHL video game NHL '12 has detailed its soundtrack and it's one that intermingled punk and hockey fans might find interesting. Against Me! , Dropkick Murphys , Manchester Orchestra , Billy Idol and others will all have songs in the game; click below to see the entire list. NHL '12 will be released on September 9 in Europe, with a North American release to follow on September 13.

Independent outfit Drive A have partnered with file sharing/distribution company BiTorrent for the release of their new album, The World In Shambles . The band started their own label, Dead Conflict Records, which produces their albums and music videos, and is now looking at ways to use BitTorrent to distribute their album directly to users of the file sharing system. BitTorrent's Shahi Ghanem commented: The digital era has forever altered the way we discover, listen, share and market music. At BitTorrent, we look to partner with artists who understand [...]

Despite the significant hype surrounding London-based Spotify , heavy music and hardcore label Century Media has decided to withdraw their catalogue from the service. For those unfamiliar with Spotify, the product provides an iTunes-like interface to a massive library of music which can be streamed on-demand, or optionally on mobile devices. The service's claim to fame is a massive catalogue including most major and indie labels. While it has been very convenient for music fans, a number of people have raised concerns about how it further devalues music. Century [...]

The ongoing riots in London led to a fire destroying the Sony DADC warehouse in the London borough of Enfield. The building held stock for PIAS , the largest indie distributor in the UK and distro for labels like Beggars, Domino, Drag City, Drive-Thru Records , Fat Cat Records , Nuclear Blast , Rough Trade, Secretly Canadian , Jagjaguwar , Side One Dummy Records , Touch and Go Records , Vagrant Records [...]

The Offspring , NOFX , Refused , Bad Religion , Social Distortion and Dropkick Murphys all contribute songs to the new Punk-o-rama track pack for Tap Tap Revenge 4 . The $2.99 package adds five songs to the iPhone/iPod Touch rhythm game including NOFX's "Linoleum," Offspring's "Bad Habit," Refused's "New Noise," Bad Religion's "Devil in Stitches," Social Distortion's "Machine Gun Blues" and Dropkick Murphys' "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." If you're unfamiliar with the game, there is a trailer here .