Wiley has teamed with author Jon Fisher to create an NFT (non-fungible token) author trading card, to promote the publication of Fisher’s forthcoming title ‘I Took the Only Path to See You.’ The Fisher NFT author trading card was placed on sale at auction on Open Sea, a digital marketplace for NFTs. Fisher and Wiley claim that this is the first NFT author trading card.
Source: Wiley Teams with Author to Create NFT Author Trading Card
You can now buy a fraction of a collection of 50 CryptoPunks, gaining exposure to one of Ethereum’s oldest—and most lucrative—NFT projects. These are called uPUNK tokens. So far, around 80 investors have created 3.6 million shares, with each share currently worth $0.05. This gives the collection a current market cap of $14.4 million.
Source: 50 CryptoPunks NFTs Go Fractional in New Collection – Decrypt
In March, Justin Sun, CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Tron, revealed that he had established an NFT investment fund focused on acquisitions of blue-chip art. Now, Sun’s recent purchases of works by Picasso and Warhol worth $22 million will be among the first pieces of art to be digitally registered on the blockchain via the new fund, titled JUST NFT, via a process known as tokenization.
Source: Crypto Mogul Aims to Register High-Value Art on Blockchain Via NFT Investment Fund
Joe Rogan reportedly received a handsome $100 million for inking his exclusive podcast deal with Spotify. But that deal, which shifted all episodes onto the Spotify platform, may be damaging the podcaster/comedian’s overall influence. According to Google Trends search traffic data, searches of ‘Joe Rogan,’ including related searches like ‘Joe Rogan podcast’ or ‘Joe Rogan MMA,’ have dropped roughly 40% since Spotify announced its deal last year.
Source: Joe Rogan Search Traffic Has Dropped 40% Since His Spotify Exclusive Began
Many of the biggest hits on such streaming services as Netflix and Disney+ have been adapted from comics and graphic novels. Comics properties that have been adapted range from eccentric indie comics titles–for example, Charles Forsman’s The End of the F****** World on Netflix–to highly promoted superhero franchise series, among them WandaVision on Disney+ and The Boys on Amazon Prime.
Source: Streaming TV, Films Drive Surge In Graphic Novel Sales
Netflix revealed that it will spend over $17 billion on content this year, according to its first-quarter earnings report. “As we’ve noted previously, the production delays from Covid-19 in 2020 will lead to a 2021 slate that is more heavily second half weighted with a large number of returning franchises,” said the company in its letter to shareholders.
Source: Netflix Reveals $17 Billion in Content Spending in Fiscal 2021
Songtradr has confirmed the acquisition of Pretzel (aka Pretzel Rocks), a platform that supplies “stream safe” music to livestreamers on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. Said livestreamers have to be very careful of playing licensed music via services such as Spotify when recording their videos. Doing so will likely result in a DCMA takedown of their content, or see it stung by YouTube’s Content ID.
Source: Songtradr acquires Pretzel, which provides DCMA-proof music for Twitch and YouTube livestreamers
Maria Schneider’s class action lawsuit against YouTube has taken another unusual turn. The complaint alleges massive infringement but thus far identifies no infringing videos. YouTube wants to know exactly what it’s dealing with but Schneider says that since she has no access to Content ID – a big part of why the complaint was originally filed – she can’t easily provide that information.
Source: YouTube Class Action: Plaintiff Can’t Identify Piracy Without Access to Content ID * TorrentFreak
For the first time in 70 years, the New York-based Authors Guild has released its “Literary Translation Model Contract” to the public, a guide with commentary that was previously available only to members of the author-advocacy organization (including agents and attorneys) to use when negotiating contracts with publishers for translation into English. The release has been made parallel to the Guild’s decision to release its “Model Trade Book Contract,” as well.
Source: The Authors Guild Releases Its Model Translation Contract, a First
For years, there has been a thriving market for streaming service accounts, with Spotify accounts selling for under a dollar. Many though not all of these are hacked. It’s so common that people commenting on their hackers’ music tastes has become somewhat of a meme and a quick search on Twitter pulls up countless examples.