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Tag: Industry News

Dec202015

Ciné Surfer: Happy Public Domain Birthday To You

hbdayThe song that was – suprising to many – NOT in the public domain is now in the public domain?!? Wow.

Here’s a great article from The Daily Signal that talks about the change of status:

http://dailysignal.com/2015/10/01/why-the-happy-birthday-songs-copyright-has-finally-been-ruled-invalid/

Remember, though, that the rights we’re talking about here are the publishing rights (the right to use the sheet music). Though you may now be allowed to sing the song on screen for free, if you use a particular recording of it, then recording rights will still kick in.

Of course, this news means that the chapter in my book Film Production Management 101 on Legal clearances is now out of date on one count. Sigh… But that goes to show you that you always need legal advice from a proper legal source for all the latest and greatest news on rights and clearances.

In the meantime, have a happy public domain birthday!

Cheers
Deb

 

Dec102010

How Do You Take Your Film Industry News?

You can pick up a copy of a trade mag in the store. You can have it mailed to you. You can access them on your mobile. You can subscribe to their newsletters. You can like them on Facebook. You can follow them on Twitter. The choices seem to go on and on. How do you access the film industry news? Do you even know the options available? Here’s a rundown on the majors for you.

Legend of current rates:
$ = less than $100
$$ = $101 to $200
$$$ = $201 & up
free = uh… you should know what this one means!
– = I couldn’t find the option for this trade mag

DELIVERY OPTION Variety Hollywood Reporter Screen Daily (UK)

Playback Online (Can.)
Email newsletter Free Newsltr Free Newsltr Free Newsltr Free Newsltr
RSS Free RSS Free RSS Free RSS Free RSS
Online full access – $$ – $$
Print (by mail) – $ – –
Print & online $$$ $$ – $$$ $$$ –
Facebook page Free FB page Free FB page FB friend Free FB page
Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter Free Twitter
You Tube Free You Tube Free You Tube – –
Other(s) iPhone, Widget, WAP iPad – –

And to confuse things even more, the options change and evolve all the time. Companies are setting up “company pages” on LinkedIn now, for example (company pages are still in beta). And what was once free becomes a paid subscription… and then a few months or a year later it becomes free again, or free in a new format. Ahhh… the speedy evolution of modern delivery channels!

Festive cheers & happy reading – in whatever format(s) you prefer,
Deb

Aug282009

Industry News Sites

So where do you gather your news about the film industry? There are so many sources, you could spend all day reading and tracking down information in the trades, blogs, newspapers, magazines, journals and so on. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, through enewsletters, print subscriptions, the list goes on. Sticking with free enewsletters, these are my favourites:

Variety (variety.com) – Not only do they have an excellent enewsletter that covers USA and international news, but they also have an super “Slanguage Dictionary” so you can understand phrases like: Prexy inks a skein in Gotham.

Hollywood Reporter (hollywoodreporter.com) – Another great enewsletter for USA and international industry news.

ShowbizData (showbizdata.com) – Super for to-the-point news, and lots of stats.

Playback (playbackonline.ca) – This is the trade to follow for Canadian industry news, and they highlight career postings on each enewsletter, as well as the front page. Nice touch.

Screen International (screendaily.com) – This enewsletter is from another premiere magazine, and rounds out perspectives perfectly for me, with the UK point of view.

After a healthy dose of the trades, I also include Mediapost Publications (mediapost.com). You need to be a bit selective with your choice of news and blogs or you will overload on information and emails in your intray.  With the convergence of technologies and medias, the information these fellows provide is a much needed, wider, different perspective, and often a glimpse (or guess?) at trends as they are evolving.

So… where do you read your industry news?

Cheers,
Deb