Cut! (but Don't Print): Paramount Pictures Axing 5 Percent of Workforce

P (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Paramount Pictures, the fifth-oldest surviving movie studio from Hollywood's heyday and a Viacom Intl. Inc. subsidiary, will slash five percent of its 2200-member workforce, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

Roughly 110 positions will be eliminated, according to the AP story, as part of a global reorganization. Paramount CEO Frederick Huntsberry told employees in a memo yesterday that the impact would spread across several departments, including marketing and finance.

A number of successful film series have been cranked out by Paramount over the years, including the Star Trek, Beverly Hills Cop and Shrek franchises, as well as Kung Fu Panda and Friday the 13th.

Twitter Aiming High in Content Partnerships

Image via CrunchBase

San Francisco-based social networker Twitter has blossomed from microblogging to serving as a multimedia platform, forging relationships with Weather Channel, LLC, ESPN and Turner Broadcasting Network, sharing ad revenues as it streams video content from those networks.

Now comes word from TechCrunch that Twitter has Viacom and Comcast's NBCUniversal in its sites, and may soon be a vehicle for sharing video clips from one or both of those media giants in return for a piece of the ad revenue action. TechCrunch reports that Twitter may have an agreement in place with one or both of Viacom and Comcast as early as next month.

Twitter continues to expand opportunities for its 140-character devotees to share content.

Viacom Back in Business: Second Circuit Restores Suit Against YouTube

Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)In Viacom International, Inc. et al. v. YouTube, Inc. et al. (Case No. 10-3270-cv), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday reversed the trial court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' copyright infringement suit against YouTube.

The trial court in 2010 rejected the plaintiffs' claim that YouTube infringed on their copyrights by allowing users to upload unauthorized clips from Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, citing the Safe Harbor provision, Title II of The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998, which shields Internet Services Providers from liability provided they promptly block access to infringing material when they receive notice of the infringement from the copyright holder.

The appellate court, however, found "a reasonable jury could conclude that YouTube had knowledge or awareness" of the infringement regarding "a handful of specific clips." The Second Circuit ordered the lower court to determine whether YouTube turned a blind eye to the actions of its users.

Viacom Appeals YouTube Copyright Ruling

Image via WikipediaViacom International Inc., a Delaware corporation and the fourth-largest media conglomerate on the planet, has filed an appeal in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Louis Stanton's adverse ruling in the copyright infringement case against Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc.'s YouTube, Inc. video-sharing Website, according to Bloomberg News.

In Viacom Intl. Inc. v. YouTube Inc. (Case No. 07-02103), Judge Stanton ruled the defendant was shielded by the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA") [H.R. 2281] against the plaintiff's copyright infringement claim. Viacom sought $1 billion in damages for YouTube's purported unauthorized use of clips from Viacom's stable of programs, including South Park and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. The DMCA safe harbor provision protects a service provider if it removes infringing material when alerted by the copyright owner.

Viacom owns MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures.