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Supreme Court delegates Brown v. EMA expenses ruling to Ninth Circuit
Legal representation ain't cheap, especially when your squad of top-notch lawyers are defending your industry/community's constitutional rights of expression. Apparently, setting legal precedent racks up a $1.4 million tab, and the Entertainment Merchants Association has requested that the bill be covered by the state of California, since they lost and everything. Now that all the fun important history making stuff is over, though, it seems the Supreme Court has better things to do with its time than figure out whose millions of dollars belong to which lawyers. As a result, the task of approving/denying the EMA's request has been delegated to the Ninth Circuit Court. Now that we think about it, does California even have $1.4 million to lose at this point? Call us crazy, but dine-and-dashing on the Supreme Court probably isn't possible.
ESA General Counsel lays out game industry argument to the Supreme Court
When the clock strikes 10 a.m. tomorrow morning in Washington, D.C., the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments in the case of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association. By now, you know how the results of this landmark case will affect the video game industry and its consumers -- but who's actually going to bat for the industry in tomorrow's hearings? More importantly, how does that litigatory sausage get made? Entertainment Software Association general counsel and senior vice president Kenneth Doroshow is one such batter (or sausage-maker, depending on which of the previous metaphors you followed). A media law heavyweight in his own right, Doroshow has served as an executive for the Recording Industry Association of America and as senior counsel the U.S. Department of Justice before joining the ESA in September 2008. Tomorrow, he'll be one of the legal representatives for the Entertainment Merchants Association, responsible for helping it make its side of the argument to the Supreme Court. Doroshow broke down the specifics of that argument for us earlier today. To learn about the case the ESA is presenting in court tomorrow -- as well as the possible repercussions of the Supreme Court's decision -- check out our Q&A with Doroshow after the jump.
Violent video game case gets its date in Supreme Court on Nov. 2
It's been a long road for the California bill backed by Governor Schwarzenegger that seeks to keep violent video games from being sold to minors. But the end is finally in sight: The Entertainment Consumer Association has announced that the case, known as Schwarzenegger vs. EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association), will go before US Supreme Court on November 2. As an outside party, the ECA will submit an amicus brief in the case and has set up a website for a petition and more information about the pending arguments. So far, lower courts have judged the proposed law, which would set up legal rules and penalties against selling violent video games to minors, to be unconstitutional. Of course, this time around, we're talking about the United States Supreme Court, so any decision in favor of the bill would overturn previous rulings in lesser courts. Take that, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals! Oral arguments in the case begin November 2, and the judges should have a decision soon after that. This will be the first time the Supreme Court looks at video games and the First Amendment, so a ruling either way should be pretty historic.
Report: Gamers stay gamers for life
A new study released by the Entertainment Merchants Association claims that when you're a gamer, you're a gamer all the way -- from your first headshot kill to your last dyin' day. "Once a consumer decides to play video games, they continue to play for life -- adding to the growing number of gamers worldwide," the study is quoted by IndustryGamers as stating.Unlike the fast food, retail or nondescript henchman industries, "consumer turnover in the video game market is exceedingly low," says the EMA. While it offers no figures to back up the claim -- perhaps Nintendo's ads for Wii featuring the elderly were evidence enough -- the group maintains that, "older gamers continue to be engaged by video games, rather than dropping out and being replaced by a new generation." Here's hoping that the fifth generation of Project Natal recognizes our walkers as power armor.
Study: gift card style disc activation could boost game, movie sales by $6 billion
Last December, the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) called for the development of technology to prevent stolen disc-based software from being used without being "activated" at retail, as detailed in a report by Video Business. Edge Online now reports the EMA has released results of a study it commissioned that show retail, game publisher and movie studio revenue could increase by as much as $6 billion if "benefit-denial" technology could be applied to games, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.The issue isn't piracy in this case; it's shoplifting and the current measures used to prevent such theft. EMA president and CEO believes that if technology can "eliminate barriers erected to deter shoplifting, consumers will have easier access to the products, additional retail channels will carry these products, and costs will be eliminated from the supply chain."Much in the way that stores must activate a gift card before it can be used, the EMA's proposed system would require games and movies to be scanned at checkout before use. There really are more questions than answers at this point. Will discs sold online be pre-activated? Will every copy of a game have a unique serial number? The only immediate solution we can think of is a car wheel boot -- but, as comical as it would be, that wouldn't conform to the EMA's requirement that packaging size must be unaffected. [Image]
First ever High-Def Disc Awards conclude
Earlier this summer, The Departed and 007: Casino Royale swept up the spotlight at the first Entertainment Merchants Association's Home Entertainment Awards to hand out honors for high-definition titles, and now the first ever High-Def Disc Awards have doled out their own laundry list of victors. Presented by Home Media Magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and the EMA, the awards were decided upon by a panel of critics / bloggers, and 300 was the only film to take home more than one award. Notably, of the two it won, one (Title of the Year) was on Blu-ray and the other (Best Bonus Feature) was on HD DVD. Other winners included Ratatouille for Best Animated Film, Transformers for Best Audio Quality and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for Best Picture Quality. Hit the read link for the full rundown, and don't be shy in voicing your support / outrage at the selections.[Via FormatWarCentral]
