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Net TV, Net Video, Video on Demand, MP3s ,peer to peer, streaming, decentralization of content, self-publishing tools, blogging, DRM, digital fingerprinting …all this convergence between entertainment, media and technology is changing the world.   It is also making Copyright Law issues like the rights of authors (creators), Fair Use, and distribution of content, increasingly relevant.  

Copyright law, domestically and internationally (from Common Law, to the Copyright Act of 1976, to the Digital Millennium Act (DMCA), to the Berne Convention) is a complex patchwork of overlapping and frequently contradictory statutes.  Like many laws, the statutes have been woven together through countless legislative horse-trades in an ongoing effort to both anticipate and keep up with the way changing technologies do (and might) influence the rights and control of intellectual property.  Despite best efforts, the legislative process, even streamlined to its most efficient ideal, can’t begin to keep pace with the innovations of our digital age and changing communications technologies.  Much of Copyright law’s tenets were written before the digital age, and even those written recently, are hard pressed to keep up with the pace at which technology is changing.  

Navigating the laws can sometimes feel like walking through a minefield while blindfolded and on crutches.  As the ever observant Mark Twain once said of the subject:  “only one thing is impossible to God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.” (Mark Twain’s Notebook May 23, 1903).  Click to Read More

Sometime today, underwriter Morgan Stanley is widely expected to price the initial public offering of shares in private equity firm Blackstone Group (with trading to begin Friday under the symbol “BX” on the New York Stock Exchange). 

A lot could happen over the next few hours, or day, (tax issues and the questionable applicability of an exemption loom) but assuming the deal does move ahead as expected, the 133.33 million common shares to be sold (at an anticipated price of $29 to $31 a share) could raise as much as $5b. 

With an additional 20 million share over-allotment available for Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to place if there is excess demand, it will likely be one of the ten biggest IPO’s in US history.  The deal will be so large, in fact, it will likely give Blackstone a market-cap equal to about half the value of Wall Street institutions Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. 

A lot of people will make a windfall. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman personally stands to make about $677 million as a selling shareholder and his retained holdings will have a worth upwards of $7b.  (He earned a staggering $400m in 2006).

While the deal is huge, and will unquestionably be the biggest offering since MasterCard Inc’s $2.4b offering about a year ago,   it is  interesting not just for its size but for bringing the focus onto private equity in general.  (Not that private equity is lacking the spotlight these days) but one of the world’s largest firms opening its books to SEC filings and the reporting requirements of being public will make for interest reading.

The focus on Private Equity from the offering, legislative concerns and other factors (including fears of what might happen to global economies if a Private Equity firm defaults on a loan) begs some questions:  

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Getty Images is expanding its focus from images to other forms of licensed content, today adding Music. The Seattle photo agency announced it was acquiring Pump Audio, a specialist licensing agency for independent musicians, for $42m.

Pump Audio was founded in 2001 as a form of agent for independent musicians. The New York based company allows musicians to upload tracks which are then made searchable for potential licensing. If an Ad Exec, for example, is looking for a soundtrack to run behind a new Television commercial, the Pump platform, allows the Ad Exec to find and work with Independent musicians who otherwise may not have been on their radar. Pump maintains a catalog of more than 100,000 songs many of which might have been recorded explicitly for advertising. Pump licenses all the music in its archive for a flat fee. Last year, Pump reported approximately 80,000 placements. Click to Read More

Online game developer K2 Network has announced the closing of a $16m Series B round of venture financing.  The round was led by Intel Capital and also included monies from Greycroft Partners, Khosla Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, BV Capital and MVP Capital.

The online gaming industry is estimated to reach $10 to 13b in revenue by 2011.  K2 Network, which was founded in 2001, and has a presence in the United States, Korea and India, is focused on so called Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG’s). The company has between  8m to 10m registered users 1 (their website and press releases have slightly different numbers) and a range of titles in its catalog.  The company provides both free to play games and premium subscription services.

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San Diego based internet video-sharing site Veoh has closed its third round of venture capital financing.  The  $26m Series C round was led by Goldman Sachs and also included prior investors Spark Capital and Shelter Capital Partners.

The company, which was launched in 2005, has raised approximately $41m to date.  Former Disney exec Michael Eisner who sits on the board of directors and is among the notable investors through his investment company, Tornante.  Time Warner has also invested.  Unsubstantiated speculation is putting the pre-money valuation for this round somewhere just above $60m.

Like IPTV companies Joost and Babelgum, Veoh offers a Peer to Peer video player but unlike the other two, Veoh has focused more on user-generated content and syndication than on trying to be a content destination.   Users can upload videos of differing sizes or quality levels and Veoh will syndicate them to different video destinations from YouTube to MySpace.   Unlike YouTube, Veoh can handle larger sized video files and higher quality content.   

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When investors look at early stage companies one of the biggest decision criteria underlying their investment decision is the quality of the people.   “Better to bet on a C idea and an A team than an A idea and a C team,” the saying goes.  With great ideas being somewhat plentiful, and the kind of adaptable idea-executing work being a challenge, it’s easy to understand.  Success is about execution.  And that requires a few things including, as Charles Schwab said, Vision  (“A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing.”) and as Vince Lombardi said, Teamwork (“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”)

This past week, struggling hand–held maker Palm announced it was taking a sizable minority investment ($325m) from private equity firm Elevation Partners. The deal raises the question – are good people, and a change of perspective enough to fix a troubled, established company.  I don’t know the answer, turnarounds are tricky beasts, especially in consumer-facing product companies, but it’s a question worth asking.

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What do you get when you take three previous CEO’s from MP3/Online music companies and put them together in one room?   In the case of MusicMatch founder Dennis Mudd (MusicMatch, a pre-iTunes desktop music player, was bought by Yahoo in 2004) former Rio CEO Jim Cady, and iRiver CEO Jonathon Sasse, you get a company called Slacker that’s hoping to do what their prior companies didn’t – capture the digital music market and maybe even break Apple’s stranglehold on the $21b music downloads market.

To help in the effort, Slacker has just closed a $40m Series B financing from investors Centennial Ventures, Rho Ventures, Austin Ventures, Mission Ventures and Sevin Rosen Funds.  That follows a previous $13.5m round announced back in March.

Despite the lazy sounding name, Slacker has big ambitions. Click to Read More