Movie studios sue DVD streaming website Zediva

The six major movie studios have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the website Zediva in a move that many industry observers thought was inevitable ever since the controversial site, which streams DVDs over the Internet for as little as $1 each, launched in March.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America, on behalf of its member studios, claimed that Zediva is violating the studios' legal right to control "public performances" of their content because the website does not have licensing agreements.

Unlike most online video services that stream digital copies of movies, Zediva essentially lets users rent a DVD and DVD player, which they control and watch via the Internet. A company representative last month claimed to the New York Times that this is legal, saying it's no different than renting a DVD and then viewing it online.

Its price of $1.99 per movie, or $10 for 10, is far less than the $4 or $5 that studios typically charge for new release movies through Internet video-on-demand. In a statement, Dan Robbins, MPAA associate general counsel, said that despite its use of DVDs, Zediva is no different than any other VOD service.

"When legitimate companies stream movies to their customers, they pay license fees to the copyright owners," he said. "Companies like Zediva profit off creators without paying them what is required by the law."

The complaint, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, names Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Zediva parent company WTV Systems and its founder and chief executive, Venky Srinivasan, as defendants.

A representative for Zediva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Ben Fritz

Warner Bros. in advanced talks to acquire Flixster

Warner Bros. is in advanced negotiations to acquire the popular movie ratings website Flixster, signaling the studio's big push into social networking.

The Time Warner-owned studio is now the most likely buyer for privately owned Flixster and would pay close to $90 million in cash, according to people familiar with the matter.

Flixster allows consumers to rate and comment on movies, as well as see what others think of films using social networking tools. Much of its activity is done though a heavily downloaded smartphone application.

News of the talks was first reported by AllThingsDigital.

Should the purchase close, it would give Warner Bros. access to an audience of more than 20 million registered users as it seeks new ways to promote and distribute its movies online. Warner recently became the first studio to start renting movies through the social network Facebook. On Monday the studio added five films, including two "Harry Potter" sequels, "Inception," "Life as We Know it" and "Yogi Bear," to its initial Facebook offering, "The Dark Knight."

Because Flixster's primary business is a database of billions of movie ratings, its potential ownership by Hollywood's largest studio could cause a conflict in the eyes of consumers. A person close to Warner said that separating that side of the business from any other initiatives the studio pursues on Flixster would be critical following an acquisition.

The acquisition talks are being driven by Warner Bros.' home entertainment group, which is led by  President Kevin Tsujihara, as well as the studio's digital distribution president, Thomas Gewecke.

About 20% of the equity in Flixster is controlled by News Corp., owner of the movie and television studio 20th Century Fox. News Corp. received the stake in exchange for the reviews compilation website Rotten Tomatoes, which it sold to Flixster last year.

Yahoo had previously been in discussions to acquire Flixster, but has dropped out, one person familiar with the situation confirmed.

Spokesmen for Warner Bros., Flixster and News Corp. declined to comment.

-- Ben Fritz

Related:

News Corp. throws Rotten Tomatoes at Flixster

Fourth Wall Studios raises $15 million for cross-media productions

Fourth Wall Studios has landed an initial investment of $15 million from one of Los Angeles' wealthiest individuals to develop and create digital entertainment "experiences" that cross various media platforms.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire who has never before invested in the entertainment business, is also giving the Culver City-based studio access to a fund of $200 million as needed for its productions.

The founders of Fourth Wall are pioneers in so-called "transmedia" entertainment through which a single narrative crosses multiple forms of media. Transmedia has become both a buzz word and an important business trend in Hollywood as studios and networks seek to expand valuable franchises beyond the media in which they originate. For instance, movies such as Disney's recent "Tron: Legacy" also exist as games, websites and mobile applications.

Launched in 2007, Fourth Wall has created so-called "alternate reality games" that cross from the Web to the outside world as part of the marketing campaign for films such as the 2008 thriller "Eagle Eye" and the 2009 comic book adapataion "Watchmen." Founders Elan Lee, Sean Stewart and Jim Stewartson previously helped start 42 Entertainment, one of the first firms to create such games.

The trio have been wanting to focus exclusively on original productions instead of marketing campaigns and said the new funds from Soon-Shiong will enable them to do so.

"If you look at the amazing adoption of social gaming and the fact that so many movies and television shows have these kind of extensions, I think the consumer is there," said Stewartson, chief executive of Fourth Wall. "We're 100% confident that people want this kind of entertainment."

Fourth Wall is building out its own studio space in Culver City and plans to double its staff of 16 by the end of the year, as well as hire contractors for specific projects. Stewartson said four of the company's initial projects, which he declined to discuss in detail, are original properties while four others are being done in partnership with other media companies.

All eight, he said, are being developed to initially take place on the Web, cell phones, e-mail and other commonly used digital platforms. Fourth Wall is developing technology to allow the experiences to occur on those devices, he noted.

The properties would then be integrated with Web browsing "so that the entire Internet is a game space," Stewartson explained. Finally, the experiences would have elements that take place in the real world, such as scavenger hunts.

Fourth Wall is looking to make money on its productions through sponsorships and "microtransactions," in which avid users pay for additional content.

Stewartson said the company's first property would launch later this year.

While Fourth Wall now has generous funding to create its own works, Stewartson noted that the company will also partner with other entertainment firms, particularly for distribution and marketing.

"We're looking to build iconic experiences that show where entertainment is going, but underneath that all we're doing a lot of work in building technology platforms and creating business partnerships," he said.

Soon-Shiong, who is serving as Fourth Wall's chairman, declined to discuss his investment in the company. He is a well-known philanthropist who has become a controversial figure in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood, where he has bought nearly three acres of land for a mysterious large construction project.

"As I work with new technologies for health care and medicine, I see more and more parallels with what's happening in entertainment -- for example, the rapidly accelerating use of mobile devices and social media platforms," Soon-Shiong said in a prepared statement. "Fourth Wall Studios is the ideal team to help take advantage of these synergies through the development of augmented reality."

--Ben Fritz

Related:

Brentwood neighborhood transformed by L.A. billionaire's building project

Photo: Fourth Wall logo. Credit: Fourth Wall.

GeekChicDaily raises $1.5 million from Legendary Pictures, Joe Roth, others [Updated]

GeekChicDaily, an e-mail newsletter devoted to comics, video games, technology and genre films, has raised $1.5 million in financing from several well-known Hollywood names including producer Joe Roth and Legendary Pictures.

The company plans to use the funds to launch a marketing campaign, expand ad sales staff and increase video production and mobile applications.

One-year-old GeekChic has about 150,000 subscribers who receive an ad-supported e-mail every morning on topics such as "The Green Hornet" and top comic book picks of the week.

Chief Executive Peter Levin said he is also looking at creating regional editions of the newsletter.

"There's a big desire from our readership to better understand what events are happening locally but still get national content," he said. Such a move would also position GeekChic to gain new advertisers aiming for a geographically targeted consumer base.

Along with Roth, the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and film finance and production company Legendary, those providing GeekChic's second round of funding include Allen DeBevoise, CEO of video games animation distributor Machinima.com, and Clear Channel head of media Robert Pittman, who co-founded the online newsletters DailyCandy and Thrillist. [Update, 9:08 a.m.: Kathy Vrabeck, who is exiting her post as president of digital for Legendary Pictures, is also investing in GeekChic and will represent Legendary on its board of directors.]

GeekChic previously raised about $1 million when it launched last year in an investment round that included Mandalay Entertainment CEO and former Sony Pictures Chairman Peter Guber.

-- Ben Fritz

RELATED:

E-mail newsletter bets on geeks' cash value

Image: An issue of GeekChicDaily. Credit: GeekChicDaily

CES: Ultraviolet intended to spark the sale of films, TV on the Internet

A consortium of Hollywood studios and technology companies will discuss Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas plans to launch an initiative called Ultraviolet that's intended to jumpstart the nascent business of selling films and television shows on the Internet.

After more than four years in the works, Ultraviolet will launch by the middle of this year, with participating retailers and studios allowing consumers to purchase digital copies of movies that can be stored online or transferred between devices without an added cost.

It's the first time that Ultraviolet, backed by every major Hollywood studio except Walt Disney Studios, and a number of consumer electronics companies and retailers that sell entertainment products, with the notable exception of Apple Inc., has detailed plans to put its technology in the hands of consumers.

Read more at the Technology blog: CES: Ultraviolet digital movie downloads to launch in mid-2011

-- Ben Fritz

The Morning Fix: Oscar working on timing. Hasbro and Discovery not toying around. `Superman' has its director.

After the coffee. Before yet another flight to New York.

The Skinny: Discovery's and Hasbro's new kids channel doesn't premiere until Sunday, but the critics are already pouncing. Can't Google everyone with Google TV. "Superman" has its next director. The FCC wants more dirt from Comcast and NBC Universal as part of its review

Oscars on the move. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences wants to move the annual Oscar Awards telecasts from its current home of the end of February or early March to January or early February. The motivation is to make the Oscars one of the first awards shows instead of the last so there is less chance of awards-show fatigue impacting the telecast's ratings. The challenge is finding a new home that won't get run over by football. Huh? That's right, football. See, the NFL wants to expand its regular season to 18 games (that's a debate for another day) and if (when) that happens, it will mean the Super Bowl and probably some of the playoffs will get pushed well into February. That means the Oscar folks (and host network ABC) have to find a home where they won't bump up against all that football hype on rival networks and still get ahead of other shows. The scoop from the Los Angeles Times.

Not toying around. On Sunday, Discovery and Hasbro will launch "The Hub," a new cable channel aimed primarily at kids age 6-11. Not only will it face tough competition from entrenched channels such as Viacom's Nickelodeon and Disney's Disney Channel and Disney XD, it will also be scrutinized by media watchdogs. That's because there are concerns that Hasbro will try to make the network into nothing but ads for its toys. The channel's boss, respected kids TV executive Margaret Loesch, says that won't be the case and that only about 20% of Hub shows are based on Hasbro products. But will that be enough to silence the critics? More on The Hub from the Los Angeles Times.

Google this! Google, the search engine that wants to become the connector between the Internet and the television, unveiled its content partners, but the list was more notable for who wasn't on it. While several cable networks, including CNBC, HBO and Turner Broadcasting are on board, the big broadcast networks are steering clear of Google -- for now anyway. To get Google TV, at least in its early incarnation, you'll need either a Sony high-definition TV set, a Blu-ray player or a special set-top box. In other words, it may take a little while for this thing to take off. More on Google's small-screen dreams from the New York Times.

Peace accord. Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa is shelling out $130 million for a 5% stake in Univision and an additional $1.07 billion in convertible debt that translates into 30% of Univision's shares, according to the Wall Street Journal. Besides giving Univision a much needed infusion, it ends years of acrimony between the two media giants.

And the backlash begins. Although many critics are worshiping "The Social Network" and already talking about how many Oscar nominations it should get, gripes about the portrayal of women in the movie are starting to surface. Missing from the movie, says Rebecca Davis O'Brien in the Daily Beast, are women who aren't "doting groupies, vengeful sluts, or dumpy, feminist killjoys." 

He's baaack! Former NBC Enertainment chief Ben Silverman is back to doing what he does best -- making new versions of successful shows. He's near a deal to make a sitcom for ABC based on an old Latin American comedy called "I Hate This Place." Not sure what's more ironic, that ABC -- whose old entertainment chief Steve McPherson loathed Silverman -- will be home for the show or that Deadline Hollywood, which relished in Silverman's downfall at NBC, was where the story was leaked.

Super Director. Zack Snyder, whose credits include "300" and "Watchmen," has been tapped to direct the latest version of "Superman" for Warner Bros. and Legend Pictures. Chris Nolan will produce. Deadline Hollywood on the choice and what Snyder's thoughts are about taking on the franchise.

Where's mine? The Wrap makes the shocking discovery that even in a field as challenged as journalism, there are some people pulling down huge salaries. Next you'll tell me there are hockey players making big bucks too. The hook for the story is that Michael Ausiello, an Entertainment Weekly writer best known for his television casting scoops, is launching his own website, backed by the owners of Deadline Hollywood. Hey, if someone wants to pay top dollar for content, you'll get no complaints from me.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Thomas Tull, the chairman of Legendary Pictures, is buying out his original investors and has new partners in Fortress Investment Group and Fidelity. The Federal Communications Commission wants more inside information from Comcast and NBC Universal as part of its review of their pending merger. 

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter and I'll tweet you something special. Twitter.com/JBFlint

The Morning Fix: It's all on Rupert! Box office blues. New life for Riley at ABC Family. Where will Emmys go next?

After the coffee. Before wondering what the deal is with those screaming crows outside my bedroom.

What's Rupert thinking? News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch will play a key role in whether Apple's desire to offer television shows for rent on iTunes at the low, low price of 99 cents per episode gains momentum. The Los Angeles Times looks at Murdoch's obsession for Apple's iPad -- he thinks it can save print media -- and how that is influencing his thinking when it comes to renting video content. While Disney, on whose board Apple chief Steve Jobs sits, is also likely to cut some sort of deal with Apple, other broadcasters and cable programmers are not yet sold and fear Apple's plans will benefit Jobs a lot more than Hollywood. Even within News Corp., not everyone is on the same page as Murdoch. By the way, the reason Apple is pushing so much for the 99-cent rental business is because it isn't having much luck selling digital downloads of TV shows. 

Good news and bad news at the box office. On the one hand, Hollywood can boast of record revenue at the box office this summer. On the other hand, the number of people actually going to movies was off dramatically. Of course, the reason for this was 3-D, as "Toy Story 3" and "Shrek Forever After" helped lift the totals and probably gave the industry an artificial sense of success. More on the summer movie season from Bloomberg.

Lions Gate is on a roll, but Icahn still looming. Although production company Lions Gate can smile about the success of "The Expendables" and "The Last Exorcism," its future remains in limbo as the cloud of investor Carl Icahn hangs over it. The Wrap looks at the studio's summer and the latest on Icahn's takeover plans.

What's the next home for the Emmys? Sunday night's awards show saw a slight growth in viewers and a dip in adults 18-49. The decision to air the show live coast to coast doesn't appear to have hurt viewership at all, and although the numbers might have been bigger if the show had aired in September, the competition would have been heavier. Now the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences needs to strike a new TV deal. Under the current pact, the license fee is about $7.5 million a year and that does not include production costs. Matching that figure will be a challenge. There is debate about whether the Emmys would benefit from a permanent home or should continue to rotate from network to network or even be expanded to cable. More on the numbers and the contract from the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

Wanna play? The New York Times takes a look at GSN, otherwise known as the Game Show Network, and its challenge of making TV game shows in a video game era. The cable channel, which is co-owned by Sony Corp. and DirecTV, started as a home for reruns of old shows like "Password" and "Concentration" but now is making a big push into original shows that include remakes of classics ("The Newlywed Game") as well as new games.  So far, big success has eluded the channel, and industry analyst Derek Baine told the NYT that GSN "really needs to reinvent itself and find out how to boost the ratings."

Radio war. The radio industry's fight against paying for the music played on stations may be nearing an end as a compromise is in sight, reports Variety. The deal, per Variety, would establish tiered rates under which stations would pay 1% or less of their net revenue to the musicians. The National Assn. of Broadcasters, which has been vocal in its opposition to paying, is taking the pulse of its membership as this deal would be less onerous than previous proposals.

Life of Riley. Disney has filled Paul Lee's post as president of ABC Family with Michael Riley, a Canadian native who most recently was running Disney's radio operation. The post opened up earlier this month when Lee took over as head of ABC's prime-time entertainment in the wake of Steve McPherson's abrupt exit. Riley has TV experience, but most of it was overseas with Turner Broadcasting, and his specialty was corporate development and marketing, not programming so there might be a learning curve. At least he inherits a channel that has been on a creative roll as of late. More on Riley's new life from Broadcasting & Cable.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Jimmy Fallon had a magic night hosting the Emmys; here's how he did it. The Los Angeles Forum is rapidly becoming a fading memory, and that's not good news to its owners. Another bunch of faux celebrities have signed up for ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," but hey, at least Jennifer Grey is giving it a whirl.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter; it'll make the day go by faster. Twitter.com/JBFlint

The Morning Fix: Steven Tyler to scream for 'American Idol'! Spyglass chiefs near deal to run MGM. HBO might add an X.

After the coffee. Before readjusting to heat and humidity.

Walk this way! Looks like Steven Tyler, the lead singer for Aerosmith (they were a big band in the 1970s and then made Alicia Silverstone's career, for you kids who don't know), has sealed his deal to be a judge on Fox's "American Idol" next season. The show, which lost Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres, still has to find at least one more judge and talks with Jennifer Lopez have hit a standstill. Although "American Idol" has definitely lost some power over the last few years, it remains the most-watched television show in the industry and a cash cow. One trusts that even if ratings take a bigger than usual slide without Cowell, the cost savings from his exit will balance out with any advertising decline. In other words, hope Fox and the producers, 19 Entertainment and Fremantle, are not breaking the bank on unproven judges who happen to have once been big names. The latest from Ted Casablanca and Taryn Rider at E! Online.

Spyglass brass gets closer to taking reigns of MGM. Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, the chiefs of Spyglass Entertainment, are putting the final touches on a deal to run the troubled MGM studio. Earlier this week, MGM's debtors and Barber and Birnbaum reached an agreement that would have the two Spyglass toppers take over a shrunken MGM. Details from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.

But I already saw "Boogie Nights." HBO is working on a series about the adult entertainment business. Makes sense -- after all, they already have porn star Sasha Grey on the payroll for "Entourage" and maybe she's up for double duty. The show is from Dirk Diggler himself -- Mark Wahlberg. He's already in bed with HBO, as his production company makes "Entourage" and "How to Make It in America" for the pay cable channel. Just to make sure everyone knows it's a fictional show, author James Frey has been tapped to write the pilot. More from the New York Post.

Stop calling me Shirley! This week, "Vampires Suck," the latest spoof movie of a popular genre opened, but are these joke flicks getting tired? The Hollywood Reporter looks at whether "Vampires Suck" will draw blood at the box office.

Location, location, location. Facebook has unveiled its location service, which will allow its users to let people know where they are at. Of course, most Facebook users already take glee in telling their friends when they are at the gym, hiking, on vacation or just sitting around in the backyard. I've never quite understood why one would never put a sign on their door saying, "going away, feel free to ran shackle" yet people have no problem telling Facebook where they are at all times. What, none of my friends are thieves? I'm not taking that chance. Oh, and there will be the usual griping from privacy advocates about what Facebook is doing; although I'm as pro-privacy as anyone, if you truly want privacy, don't put your life online. Oh, and if you are curious, Thursday morning's roundup is being done from a Starbucks on Broadway and 103rd Street. Details on Facebook's latest move from the Wall Street Journal.

"Business Report" sold. "Nightly Business Report, a stable of public broadcasting that for years has been owned and produced by WPBT-TV, a public television station in Miami, has been sold to a private company. According to the New York Times, Mykalai Kontilai, who distributes television programs and used to manage mixed martial artists, has acquired the show. No terms were disclosed. The show, which is over 3 decades old, will continue to be produced out of WPBT. 

Guess Betty White wasn't available. Chelsea Handler, host of E!'s late-night talk show "Chelsea Lately," will be the host of MTV's Music Video Awards, which return to Los Angeles next month. Handler, best known for her love of vodka and single men, is something of an unusual choice for the show. Get ready for lots of Snooki jokes. More on Chelsea's big gig from MTV News.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Horn on the odds of a big win for "Lottery Ticket." Why "The Switch" isn't a chick flick. 

-- Joe Flint

What? You mean you don't follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/JBFlint

The Morning Fix: Google is coming for your TV! CBS has passage to India. BermanBraun rakes in some new dollars. Morty's back in late night.

After the coffee. Before yet another flight to New York. And in August no less.

Google is coming! Google is coming! Search giant Google is getting serious about its small-screen aspirations. The company has been meeting with broadcast and cable networks to try to get access to their content for its new Google TV application that will allow consumers to watch TV through the Web. Of course content providers want to make sure they a) get paid for their programming and b) don't alienate the cable and satellite distributors who already carry their channels. Google's real aim to is to get more ad dollars and leave Apple's television aspirations in the dust. More on Google's big push and what the challenges will be from the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

What's a million dollars between friends? Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. made headlines this week for its $1-million donation to the Republican Governors Assn. This, of course, gave fuel to the left to take shots at Murdoch's Fox News operation. Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz, who also works for Fox News rival CNN, followed up on Tuesday's story on this from Politico. A News Corp. spokesman told Kurtz that it is "patently false" that a donation by News Corp. would somehow influence coverage at Fox News. By the way, lots of media companies give money to political causes. The New York Times also weighed in with a article on Rupert's largess. 

Really, it'll happen. Variety checks on Disney's deal to sell Miramax to Ron Tutor, the big-shot construction guy (sorry, I'm tired of saying "construction magnate") and says that although the pact was announced weeks ago, the financing is still not nailed down. The deadline to close is Sept. 7, and odds seem long that it will be met. Of course, Disney could extend it or go back on the market and see if Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein want to make one more run. 

A passage to India. CBS and India's Reliance Broadcast Network Limited announced early Wednesday morning their plans to launch a joint venture that will create three English-language television channels. The networks, which will launch later this year, will feature both current CBS content and library fare as well. CBS becomes the latest U.S. media company to try to build a presence in India. Here's an early take from the Hollywood Reporter and an old story about the talks from the Wall Street Journal, just to bring you up to speed.

Morty's back. Veteran producer Robert "Morty" Morton is coming back to late night as the show runner for TBS' "Lopez Tonight." Morton was the longtime executive producer for David Letterman. The move comes as Lopez prepares for his show to relocate to midnight to make room for Conan O'Brien. Details from Broadcasting & Cable. 

Read at your own risk. The Wrap says it has come across an e-mail with details of what is in development at Paramount Pictures. Among the projects are a Will Smith movie from director Kathryn Bigelow and a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand. Paramount told the Wrap that some of the material in the e-mail is right and some it is wrong.

Digital dollars. BermanBraun, the entertainment company headed by former TV big shots Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, has roped in $100 million in advertising commitments from Starcom, a big agency whose clients include Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart. The money is for BermanBraun's digital operations, including its websites Wonderwall and Glo. The New York Times, which always seems to have the inside scoop on these guys, has the story, as does the Wall Street Journal blog All Things D. They can flip a coin to decide which one was fed this first. 

Turner on a roll. "Rizzoli & Isles," the female detective drama featuring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, is the latest hit for TNT. Although it has hardly been a critical smash, it is drawing big audiences and proves that there is a big appetite for what Ad Age calls "meat and potatoes"-type programming. Variety also weighs in on a piece about cable's hot summer.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Dr. Laura says goodbye to radio. Just because the star leaves, that doesn't mean the show can't go on. Haim Saban buys Julius the Monkey.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. I've been known to tweet from airplanes. Twitter.com/JBFlint

Judge sides with YouTube in Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit [Updated]

Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement suffered a potentially fatal blow.

In a decision issued Wednesday, United States District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton granted YouTube owner Google's motion for summary judgment that it qualifies for "safe harbor" protection under the law. The provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act says that Internet companies are not liable for copyright infringement if they take certain preventive measures and promptly take down copyrighted materials when notified by their owners.

A Viacom spokesman called the decision "fundamentally flawed" in a statement and said the media conglomerate, which owns MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures, will appeal.

The surprise dismissal is a major blow to Viacom, which sued Google in 2007 and alleged that YouTube became the dominant company in online video by knowingly allowing copyrighted episodes of programs such as "The Daily Show" and "South Park."

Update, 5:25 p.m.: For much more, see the story in tomorrow's Times.

Updated, June 24: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the lawsuit was dismissed. It has not. Instead, the federal judge granted Google's motion for summary judgment, which he did, ruling in favor of Google. Viacom can still appeal the case to the circuit court.

-- Ben Fritz