ABC reality show survives legal challenge that it is imitation of Survivor: Nervous ABC execs breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after CBS failed to prevent its rival from screening “I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!” – the show the House of Mouse hopes will …

From the Scholastic website: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, the fifth in the bestselling series has been scheduled for release on Saturday, June 21, 2003 in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, it was announced today by Scholastic and Bloomsbury publishers. The companies …

In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the 1998 law extending copyright protection by 20 years: a victory for supporters of the law, including large media companies and song publishers that argued the longer term was needed to protect a vital industry that contributes more than $500 billion to …

I wandered in to my sister’s living room Sunday night – she had the 29th Annual Lemming’s Choice Awards on the big screen. Tony Danza was playing the trumpet, which brought up more questions than my mind could handle: Why was Tony Danza hosting? Why was he playing the trumpet? …

Great Wall Street Journal story on two screenwriters who got a little more reality than they bargained for touring gangland with the police in East LA: There are a million stories in this town, and any one of them could end up as a screenplay. On a cool night last …

The RIAA website has been under regular attack by hackers for some time now. There may be some humor in the nature of some of the attacks, but as a method of publicizing displeasure with the organization the attacks are counterproductive, giving the RIAA PR and political ammo against computer …

Although media deregulation would appear to have not served the public interest, almost incredibly, the FCC is considering EVEN MORE deregulation. The TV creative community, usually at odds with itself, has banded to fight further deregulation: The coalition combines directors, writers, actors and producers — groups more often known for …

As we mentioned last week in reference to Amoeba Music in the Bay Area, there will always be room for a smart, niche-oriented retailer: leave the current hits to the malls, find a specialized segment that isn’t being serviced and service them well. Duh: If you’re looking for the latest …

A fine analysis of what’s going on with the recording industry by Jeanne A. Naujeck of The Tennessean: digital downloads break albums down into songs, which has refocused attention on singles, which the industry phased out in an effort to drive more lucrative album sales. A large number of music …

Note what I wrote here yesterday about the price of CDs: File-swapping and the rise of DVDs have combined to expose the outrageous rip that are retail CD prices – people will buy more if they think they are getting a good deal: paying more for the soundtrack than the …