December 20, 2005
Watch a movie on your phone 10 days after its release
This is wild. According to Cinematical, an Italian cell phone company has won the right to distribute feature films on cellphones just 10 days after they premiere in theaters.
"Distributor Eagle Pictures previously tried to back out of their deal to provide content for Hutchinson H3G (who provide Italian cell phone services from a base in Hong Kong) once they learned of the cellular company's plan to distribute The Interpreter to Italian cell phones uncomfortably close to the picture's theatrical release. In retaliation, H3G went to court to win the right to break the window – and won.
Their next move will be to offer their customers the ability to download Memoirs of a Geisha directly to their phones as early as December 27.
See also Variety's full reporting on this story in a free access article.
... "The distribution dispute is turning Italy into a laboratory for thrashing out global guidelines for rights deals for cell phones and other wireless devices, a hot topic at last month's American Film Market, where IFTA said it was drafting a model licensing agreement.
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