EMA forms Digital Council
New council seeks to define terms, rights, best practices
By Ned Randolph -- Video Business, 10/2/2007
OCT. 2 | The Entertainment Merchants Assn. (formerly VSDA) has formed a new Digital Council with the goal of helping define and standardize practices in digital entertainment and promoting consumer acceptance of new forms of entertainment delivery.
“This council was formed to facilitate the ability of industry stakeholders to work together toward common objectives, such as digital supply chain efficiency, identifying ownership rights throughout the distribution channel and promoting consumer acceptance of digital entertainment,” said Curt Marvis, president and CEO of CinemaNow and the council’s liaison to the EMA Board of Directors.
Charter members of the EMA Digital Council are: All Media Guide; BitTorrent; CinemaNow; Creative Labs; Egami Media; Ellipse Technology; ExtendMedia; Hewlett-Packard; Image Entertainment; IODA; MOD Systems; Muze; Netflix; Polar Frog Digital; ScreenPlay; Senator Entertainment; Tempus Technologies; TitleMatch Entertainment Group; Trans World Entertainment; and Wolfe Releasing.
The EMA Digital Council will concern itself with commercial Internet-based video distribution and manufacturing on demand for home video. Its initial focus will be in two areas: language and education to encourage consumer acceptance of digital content, and developing common practices to protect content ownership.
“First off, we want to standardize definitions so that everyone understands what we are talking about,” said co-chairman Mitch Mallon, VP of digital sales at Egami Media.
He added, “And we will present education programs for stakeholders in the industry to promote a common knowledge base.”
Consumers spent $184 million purchasing Internet-delivered movies, TV shows and music videos in 2006, the group said, citing Understanding & Solutions.
Protecting ownership rights and establishing best practices for contracts in digital entertainment distribution also will be a major focus, added co-chairman Mark Vrieling, president and CEO of ScreenPlay.
The council’s first meeting was held on Sept. 26. Its next step will be to form workgroups for each objective that will meet by teleconference.
