They Eat Their Own Young
Scour.Net is Sued by Everyone
Just What is Michael Ovitz' Roll in Lawsuit?
Will Hollywood Really Bite the Hand That Fed Them?
July 22, 2000
Was Michael Ovitz supposed to provide protection to the youthful start-up Scour.Net? Certainly, Hollywood and Silicon Valley were both amazed when Ovitz' investment in the start-up venture was announced in August, 1999.
Bruce Orwall, writing in the Wall Street Journal on August 5, 1999 reported: "Formalizing relationships with movie studios and record labels could be critical. At present, some of Scour.Net 's links are to unauthorized clips, the company concedes. That puts Mr. Ovitz in an awkward position, given that his latest Hollywood venture, Artists Management Group, represents artists whose work may be on the Internet in unauthorized form."
Now, almost one year later, it looks like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) waited just about as long as they could for Mr. Ovitz to clean up Scour's act. On Thursday, July 20, 2000, trade groups representing the biggest movie studios, music publishers and recording companies filed a copyright infringement suit against Scour.
The suit follows a similar action filed by the recording industry against Scour's Internet rival, Napster. Plaintiff's claimed the lawsuit was filed in order to stop the duplication and distribution of copyrighted materials by Internet users. They claimed, as in previous suits, that Scour's very existence threatened loss of revenue and creative control for the artists they represent.
The MPAA, the RIAA, and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) said they filed suit against Scour.Net, contending the company is built around the large-scale theft of copyrighted material and trafficking of stolen works.
At some point, the WIZARD believes, Hollywood must embrace one of these fledgling companies and learn to use this technology. All of us here understand the assault on Napster. But the renewed pressure on mp3.com and Scour is puzzling. Why attack the "good guys?" Why try to destroy companies that are attempting to work out solutions with the artists and their representatives?
Ovitz proved to be a powerful friend to many in Hollywood. Will he prove to be a worthy adversary?
So far Scour is completely silent on their web site. It's business as usual. But that's not the case at the MPAA. Follow this LINK to see Jack Valenti's War Machine at full throttle!!
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