HDR10+ Technologies applied Jan. 2 to register the stylized logo unveiled at CES for the Fox-Panasonic-Samsung royalty-free dynamic-metadata high-dynamic-range platform (see 1708300040), Patent and Trademark Office records show. The two filings -- one for a range of possible consumer tech device applications, the other for "software as a service" uses and for videogaming and streaming-video purposes -- were filed about 36 hours before the “3C” consortium debuted the logo. PTO records show HDR Technologies is headquartered at a Beaverton, Oregon, address that is home to the VTM Group, a consulting firm that runs the Open Connectivity Foundation and helped organize or run other tech groups in which Samsung had a founding role. VTM also runs the AirFuel Alliance. Warner Home Entertainment has pledged HDR10+ content support. "Technical specifications haven't been finalized," a Fox spokesman told us. "Our plan is to begin licensing once that happens and hopefully that won't be too far off. Everyone is working to get it done as soon as possible."
Meredith Corp. said U.S. antitrust overseers won't challenge its planned takeover of Time Inc. With early termination of the merger waiting period in hand, the owner of TV stations and magazines expects to complete the deal announced Nov. 26 within 30 days. The acquirer plans Q1 completion of the $2.8 billion transaction that's getting funding from Koch Equity Development (see 1711270014). The FTC and DOJ didn't comment right away Friday.
News will remain “highly popular” on Facebook despite an algorithm change announced Thursday that will shift focus away from public content, professional pages and publishers, said News Media Alliance President David Chavern in a Friday statement. The company is making the change based on “feedback from our community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “I expect the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will go down. But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable.” The change highlights Facebook’s power “to decide (and alter) the kinds of information that people are exposed to,” said Chavern, who has said the social media service should move to a subscription model. Barclays said the move could hurt revenue in the short term, but the company should be in a position to drive pricing over the long term.
Content companies, including the content arms of Netflix and Amazon, are suing the Dragon Box streaming media device for copyright infringement, The docket 18-CV-230 complaint (in Pacer) filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges Dragon Box deliberately provides customers with a customized configuration Kodi media player software that allows for pirating content. Plaintiffs in the suit are Netflix Studios, Amazon Content Services, Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal City Studios and Warner Brothers Entertainment. Also named as defendants are Californians Jeff Williams, a Dragon Box reseller, and Paul Christoforo, president of Dragon Media, doing business as Dragon Box. Dragon Box didn't comment Thursday.
Netflix and producer Mandalay Entertainment are denying they stole the two-volume Burning Sands book series for creation of the 2017 Netflix original film of the same name. In a pair of docket 17-cv-03212 answers posted Tuesday (see here and here, in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, the companies said the film was created independently of, and not copied from, books by plaintiff Al Quarles of Pennsylvania. They also said to the extent Quarles' books relied on facts, ideas, cliches and conventions of storytelling, his claims lack copyright protection. Quarles, in his 2017 copyright infringement suit (in Pacer), said his books are novels not based on real-life events or characters and alleged more than 100 instances of what he said was substantial similarity between the film and the books.
Beyond the major over-the-top players based in the U.S., several international operations also have designs on customers beyond their borders, CreaTV Media Chairman Peter Csathy blogged Tuesday. "Multiple mega-companies" are vying to be the Netflix of China, he said, with Baidu's iQiyi planning its own original content strategy, plus Alibaba's Youku Tudou, Tencent and Wanda Cinemas' Line's Mtime in operation. Csathy said Bison Group's majority stake in U.S.-based OTT platform Cinedigm was aimed not only at Chinese viewers but also at bringing Chinese content to U.S. audiences. But Csathy said the lesson of LeEco -- which in 2016 was proclaiming itself the Netflix of China, only to scuttle its buy of Vizio and its plans for the U.S. OTT market -- is that effectively launching and monetizing digital-first video services is increasingly challenging given the competition, and internationalizing a customer base is even more difficult. Csathy said partnerships are proving key to accessing foreign markets, with examples ranging from Hooq -- a Singtel/Sony/Warner Brothers joint venture -- and iflix, backed by Hearst, Liberty Global and Sky and with access to flagship Disney content. He said Netflix and Amazon Prime have significant presence in Europe, but they face growing competition ranging from Sky to a joint venture between Discovery Communications and German media company ProSiebenSat.1.
Vine’s "cavalier attitude" toward unpaid creators drove them to competing platforms, which lead to the end of the video sharing service, nScreenMedia analyst Lloyd Dixon blogged Sunday. Vine's initial simplicity -- featuring six-second video clips -- became a limitation in the face of growing competition, it said, saying Snapchat and Facebook became more adept than Vine at providing routes for advertisers to reach users. With Vine shutting down in January 2017, most of its creators have moved to YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram, nScreenMedia said, adding "only time will tell" if those services have learned from Vine's mistakes.
CBS All Access streaming service now is available through Amazon Prime. The broadcaster said Friday it's the first Amazon Channels offering that includes a linear feed of subscribers' local stations alongside VOD.
By legally challenging YouTube's restricted mode feature, Conservative group Prager University is trying to turn the private service provider into a public forum regulated by the same constitutional standards that government must follow, defendants Google and YouTube said Friday in a motion to dismiss (in Pacer) filed with U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. They said any restrictions of access to posted videos are protected by the Communications Decency Act. Prager, in its suit (in Pacer) filed in October, said the restricted mode filtering isn't for protecting younger or sensitive viewers "but as a political gag mechanism to silence [it]." Prager counsel didn't comment now.
A+E Networks content will be available via Verizon, including on Yahoo and AOL, under a carriage renewal deal Verizon announced Wednesday. It said the agreement includes first-window rights for content from A+E Networks digital entity 45th & Dean as well as continued carriage of A+E content on Fios.