News of the Week; February 10, 2016

GAMES

1. Take-Two sued over 2K16 tattoos
2. Take-Two Interactive accused of infringing tattoos in NBA 2K video games: Lawsuit says game maker rejected licensing demand of $1.1 million.
3. Complaint Alleges Copyright Infringement for Video Game Featuring LeBron and Kobe’s Tattoos 
4. The King and his (tattoo artist’s) copyright
5. Is LeBron James a “Medium of Expression” under the Copyright Act? We May Soon Find Out 
6. The Binding of Isaac rejected by Apple due to violence towards children
7. Nintendo and its fanboy – one of them doesn’t understand ‘Fair Use’
8. How exactly did Nintendo change the ‘petting’ minigame in Fire Emblem Fates?
9. Game cracking group takes a year off as a “genuine sales” experiment: But other piracy groups will no doubt fill the gap they leave.
10. Mad Catz chairman, CEO, general counsel all resign
11. Morhaime: “You can’t really distinguish eSports from game development”
12. Kids who played shoot-em-up games in the ‘90s were probably (mostly) OK: Study looking at negative impacts of video games finds small effects.
13. Sony further extends PS4’s console sales lead over the 2015 holidays
14. Bandai Namco sees growth in video games arm
15. Nintendo’s profits drop 30% year-on-year
16. Niko Partners: Chinese mobile market has hit peak growth – Analysts still predict domestic mobile revenues will top $11bn in 2019
17. One man’s strange interaction with Bethesda customer support
18. Just Cause 3 prompts despair among Chinese pirates
19. Glu’s celebrity strategy faltered on Katy Perry, James Bond games
20. Unsung Story development halted
21. Nintendo puts its sleep-tracker plans to sleep: First part of the new “Quality of Life” initiative isn’t product-ready.
22. 22cans makes changes to Godus Wars following DLC complaints: “The extra content being a premium add on really isn’t a popular choice”
23. Chief Justice sells at least $250K of Microsoft stock in advance of hearing: Three justices own individual stocks, and that’s created more conflicts recently.
24. The ESA must adapt or die
25. ESA: SuperData’s critique on us “gratuitous, misinformed” – Rich Taylor, ESA’s Senior VP, Communications and Industry Affairs, responds to Joost van Dreunen’s opinion piece
26. VfL Wolfsburg signs English 22-year-old for FIFA eSports team
27. Sonic The Hedgehog’s Long, Great, Rocky History

DIGITAL

1. BroadbandTV takes over as No. 1 online video network worldwide
2. The Publisher Turf Wars: Facebook Instant Articles, Ad Blocking And The Future
3. Clock ticking for Facebook to stop tracking French netizens: “We’re confident we comply with EU Data Protection law,” says free content ad network.
4. How Does Netflix Pay Studios? What the Streaming Giant Does to Obtain Content
5. Netflix and Amazon’s deals at Sundance don’t make economic sense because they don’t have to
6. Everyone hopes Snapchat can boost LA tech. But is Hollywood holding Snapchat back?
7. Magic Leap Raises $793.5 Million Series C Investment to Accelerate Adoption of Secretive AR Tech
8. Google Can Derive Undisclosed Economic Benefits From CAPTCHAs–Rojas-Lozano v. Google
9. Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks to copyrighted content
10. NBC, Filthy Pirates, Sued Over Use Of Photographer’s Work Without Permission
11. Client’s scathing Yelp reviews net divorce attorney $350,000 in damages
12. eBay has no plans to fix “severe” bug that allows malware distribution
13. Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to PickYour Pocket, Too: Odds are good that when you search Google for someone to help you get into your home or car, results will include poorly trained subcontractors who will squeeze you for cash.
14. TPP would be disastrous for Canada’s innovators, Jim Balsillie warns
15. The Woman Who Created Netflix’s Enviable Company Culture
16. Twitter Wants You to Know That It Is Fighting Terrorists
17. Inside the conspiracy theory that Microsoft has rigged the Iowa caucuses for Marco Rubio
18. It’s not Cyberspace anymore. (danah boyd)
19. Fashion and the IoT
20. Google’s AI will battle Go world champion live on YouTube: DeepMind’s AlphaGo will take on South Korea’s Lee Sedol in March
21. Why lost phones keep pointing at this Atlanta couple’s home
22. Just think of all the jokes you can make with this ‘Simpsons’ screenshot search engine
23. 20 Years Ago Today: The Most Important Law On The Internet Was Signed, Almost By Accident

CREATIVITY

1. David Bowie’s Legacy On Copyright And The Future Of Music
2. Will Performance Royalties Create a New Class of Radio Pirate?
3. Warner To Pay $14 Million In ‘Happy Birthday’ Settlement; Plaintiffs Ask For Declaration That Song Is In Public Domain
4. Ridiculous Copyright Fight Still Keeping The Only Video Of The First Super Bowl Locked Up
5. The NFL wants you to think these things are illegal: Yes, you can record Sunday’s game. And you can talk about it.
6. NFL Edging Towards Claiming A Trademark On ‘The Big Game’ Again
7. How Freddie Mercury Refused to Allow HIV to Derail His Art: 25 years ago Queen released ‘Innuendo,’ a return to form that held a powerful secret
8. The Yakuza Are Running Japan’s Hollywood
9. Political Interference? The Culling of Japan’s Broadcasters Culminates in a Respected Journalist’s Ouster
10. Changes to Canadian Work Permit Categories for Television/Film and Performing Arts 
11. Offensive trademarks: can they be registered in Canada and the US?
12. A history of black contestants on ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’
13. The People v. O.J. Simpson Creators on Their Relationship With Veracity and Why All Film Is Manipulation
14. Extremism Threatens Press Freedom

COMMUNICATIONS

1. Verizon’s mobile video won’t count against data caps—but Netflix does: Verizon Wireless tests limit of net neutrality rules by zero-rating own data
2. Comcast Using Minority Astroturf Groups To Argue Cable Set Top Box Competition Hurts Diversity
3. States Wake Up, Realize AT&T Lobbyists Have Been Writing Awful Protectionist State Broadband Laws
4. Facebook’s free Internet app banned by India’s new net neutrality rule: Zero-rating targeted by regulators overseas while it remains legal in US.
5. India Bans Zero Rating As The U.S. Pays The Price For Embracing It
6. Nielsen Plays Catch-Up as Streaming Era Wreaks Havoc on TV Raters
7. Exclusive: With full power at CBS, CEO Moonves sees more aggressive move to digital
8. Toronto City Council Sides With CRTC in Rejecting Mayor Tory’s Support of Bell Appeal
9. The Trouble With the TPP, Day 26: Why It Limits Canadian Cultural Policies (Michael Geist)
10. New EU-US Safe Harbour Agreement

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. UK-US deal would allow MI5 to get chat, e-mails directly from US companies: Concern over “dumbing down” of protections because of UK’s weaker safeguards.
2. Previously tame UK parliament watchdog rips into new Snooper’s Charter: Committee says IPB’s metadata collection is “inconsistent and largely incomprehensible.”

jon