Fortnite, a mega-popular free-to-play battle royale video game, has recently begun to host events in-game, including concerts with Travis Scott, EDM artist Marshmello, and Star Wars tie-ins. This weekend, Fortnite is screening Christopher Nolan movies—sort of like a drive-in, but with more grappling hooks. Depending on where you live, you can watch The Prestige, Inception, or Batman Begins.
Source: VICE – Watching Movies in ‘Fortnite’ Is More Fun Than a Theater
A new artificial intelligence tool developed by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab leverages the virtual eyes and ears of a computer to separate similar sounds that are tricky even for humans to differentiate. The tool improves on earlier iterations by matching the movements of individual musicians, via their skeletal keypoints, to the tempo of individual parts.
Source: Identifying a melody by studying a musician’s body language
Seven years after it sold its stake in BMG to Bertelsmann KKR has made a meaningful move back into music. The global investment giant is leading a $48m investment in Artlist, a royalty-free music and sound effects company that licenses content to creators on YouTube and other platforms. Israel-based Artlist, via its Artgrid product, also offers users a large catalog of stock footage.
Source: KKR leads $48m investment into Artlist, a royalty-free music rival to Epidemic Sound
When Covid-19 hit, Bandcamp announced it would waive its usual 15% fee for one day in order to support artists affected by the shutdown of live music. On 20 March, fans bought 800,000 records on Bandcamp in 24 hours, totalling $4.3m of music and merchandise – 15 times more than a typical Friday.
Source: Good vibrations: how Bandcamp became the heroes of streaming
The EFF has revealed it is teaming up with law firm Durie Tangri to defend the Internet Archive against a lawsuit targeting its Open Library. According to court filings, the impending storm is shaping up to be a battle of the giants, with opposing attorneys having previously defended Google in book scanning cases and won a $1bn verdict for the RIAA against ISP Cox.
A group of 18 leading film festivals has kick-started a campaign to persuade film festivals running online editions to use geoblocking technology to protect the commercial potential of the films, and the ability of other festivals to stage local premieres of the films. The campaign in response to the rising number of festivals that have launched online editions.
Source: Film Festivals Group Starts Campaign for Geo-Blocking By Online Festivals
Reversing herself, a federal judge in New York reinstated a photographer’s claims that Mashable infringed her copyright by embedding a photo from her public Instagram account. In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood said Mashable has not to date presented enough evidence to show it had a valid license from Instagram for the photo.
Source: Digital News Daily: Judge Reinstates Photographer’s Copyright Claim Against Mashable
Google says it will pay some news outlets for “high-quality” stories that it uses amid pressure from publishers. Part of the initiative will require Google to pay for its users to access news stories otherwise locked behind a so-called paywall on certain websites. The first sites to join are in Australia, Brazil, and Germany, with a product launch set for later this year.
How to value a film library is a major question in the COVID-19 era as cinemas and streamers turn to older titles to plug the gap caused by production suspensions, and face a reluctance to release new titles in a time of social distancing, coupled with a resurgent dialogue around historic race depictions.
Source: In the Age of Coronavirus, How Do We Value Film Libraries?
HBO Max’s programming is getting the podcast treatment. WarnerMedia and iHeartMedia have inked a deal to co-produce a slate of companion podcasts for the streamer’s upcoming originals and legacy programming. The first two projects will be podcasts about comedy thriller Search Party and upcoming sci-fi drama Raised by Wolves.
Source: WarnerMedia, iHeartMedia to Produce Companion Podcasts for HBO Max Shows (Exclusive)