3 Count: Bucked Up
Also, a reverse Tidal wave...
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1: ‘Buck Rogers’ Pitch to Syfy Network Brings Legal Trouble for Author’s Heirs
First off today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that heirs to Philip Francis Nowlan, the creator of Buck Rogers, are now going to court against heirs to John F. Dille, the man who owned the newspaper service that employed Nowlan over 75 years ago.
Buck Rogers first appeared in the 1929 novella Armageddon 2419 A.D, written by Nowlan. At the time, Nowlan was under contract by Dille’s newspaper service and, while Nowlan died in 1940, his wife battled with Dille over the future of the intellectual property. In 1942, the two sides agreedon a deal that saw Dille releasing all rights for $1,750.
However, in more recent years, the Dille Family Trust has repeatedly interfered with planned remakes and reboots of Buck Rogers, including one pitched by the Nowlan estate to the SyFy Channel. According to the Dille estate, these negotiations breach the 1942 agreement, which only applied to Nowlan’s now-late wife. The case is taking place in the background of another dispute unwittingly started by the Dille estate, where a Hollywood director is aiming to show that the character is in the public domain.
2: Pandora’s Spotify Rival Won’t Be Ready Until Later This Year
Next up today, Micah Singleton at The Verge reports that Pandora’s long-awaited on-demand music service will be delayed until later this year as the company is still trying to strike deals with at least one of the major labels.
Pandora, currently, is an internet radio service that doesn’t allow users to select certain songs they want to hear. However, the company recently purchased parts of Rdio, an on-demand streaming service, raising suspicions that it would enter the market at some point soon.
But, after a long period of silence, it appears that Pandora may soon be doing just that. It’s already reached a deal with two of the three major record labels and is nearing a deal with the third, Warner Brothers. Still, with both Spotify and Tidal struggling to find profitability, it remains to be seen if the move is a good one for struggling Pandora.
3: Apple’s Not Buying Tidal After All
Finally today, Chauncey Alcorn at Fortune reports that Apple is no longer in negotiations to by music streaming service Tidal, preferring instead to continue with its own service, Apple Music.
According to reports, earlier this year Apple began expressing interest in buying Tidal, which was launched in October 2014. At that time, Tidal was mean to be more pro-artist than services such as Spotify, which is regularly accused of underpaying labels and artists. Tidal has since been bolstered by a series of artist exclusives, including Beyonce’s Lemonade, but never found widespread traction.
Still, rumors began to circulate that Apple was looking to buy Tidal but it now appears that those talks have ended. The news comes as Tidal posts a $28 million loss on the previous year.
Suggestions
That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.
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