http://media-assault.com/ Movies, music, and games...what else is there? en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://media-assault.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://media-assault.com/ http://media-assault.com/index.php?itemid=692 A court in Germany has told electronic band Kraftwerk that a producer who sampled one of their songs was not violating copyright.

The ruling overturns an earlier decision against Moses Pelham's use of a short sample from Metal on Metal.

Judges in Berlin said the two second extract did not infringe copyright, as his song was substantially different.

The move will come as a blow to artists who object to rivals using samples of their work to create new songs.

Kraftwerk's case was originally heard in a state court in Hamburg.

It ruled in Kraftwerk's favour and said reusing even the shortest bit of a song infringed copyright.

In light of today's ruling, the Hamburg court will now have to take up the case again.

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Called "The Lost and the Damned," the new content will feature Johnny Klebitz, a member of the Liberty City gang The Lost.

"Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background," said Dan Houser, vice president of creative development for Rockstar Games, in an interview with USA Today. "I can't go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City."

No price was given for the DLC, but GamePro's own Dave Rudden said an ideal price point would be $15 or less. Analyst Michael Pachter predicted a price point of $20.

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The upgrade, dubbed the New Xbox Experience (NXE), is available to members via Xbox Live.

"The next time you turn on your Xbox 360, the way you enjoy entertainment in your home will be changed forever," Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live at Microsoft, wrote in a Wednesday blog post. "The New Xbox Experience will not only be easier to use from the very beginning, but it will give you new ways to connect with your friends and family and offer up more entertainment choices than any other device connected to the TV."

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Joystiq first noticed that movies including Superbad, Bad Boys, and the Karate Kid Trilogy were no longer available, with a message in red letters stating certain items in their queue were "Not Available on Xbox." With a little research, they determined all of the movies were distributed by Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony.

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The revised total for "Quantum of Solace" is still a record opening in the U.S. and Canada for a movie about the British super spy. It beat the debut of "Die Another Day," which earned $47.1 million in its first weekend in November 2002.

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According to Major Nelson, this will "NOT" affect Xbox Live and service should remain (relatively) reliable.

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This new Bond is first seen in Casino Royale earning his "double O" status, solidifying to the viewer that everything about this series is starting from scratch. From there, Bond goes on his first mission, which is to find and stop the man who is financing terrorists around the world. In the process, he gets himself involved in a high-stakes poker game in which, if he loses, he will directly be financing terrorists organizations with MI6's money.

Check out the rest of the review here...]]> Movie Reviews http://media-assault.com/index.php?itemid=686 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:29:53 -0500 http://media-assault.com/index.php?itemid=685 "I have come here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubble gum," says Nada (Roddy Piper), after discovering that the Earth has come under the control of aliens in John Carpenter's They Live, which is at once a science fiction tale, a comedy, and a commentary on rampant consumerism with a generous helping of action and violence thrown in for good measure.

In fact, the movie's B-movie trappings are part of its charm. Seeing former professional wrestler Roddy Piper do a respectable job being an action hero -- something that Hulk Hogan has never pulled off -- and witnessing what has to be one of the longest fist-fight scenes in movie history in the same movie that includes dialogue like "You... you look like your face fell in the cheese dip back in 1957" makes They Live nearly impossible to dislike.

Check out the rest of the review here...]]> Movie Reviews http://media-assault.com/index.php?itemid=685 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:25:43 -0500 http://media-assault.com/index.php?itemid=684 The latest James Bond film "Quantum of Solace," already a big hit overseas, set a new opening record for Bond movies in North America with estimated weekend sales of $70.4 million, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.

The record for a Bond opening was held by "Die Another Day," which earned $47.1 million across the United States and Canada during its first weekend in November 2002. That film was the last one starring Pierce Brosnan. "Quantum of Solace" and its 2006 predecessor "Casino Royale," which opened to $40.8 million, starred Daniel Craig.

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"In the past few hours, the Xbox Operations Center noticed that large numbers of members were disconnected from Xbox LIVE, some more than once," the statement reads. "Our Engineering teams are actively working to determine the root cause of this issue and to prevent it from happening again. If you are disconnected, you should be able to reconnect after a few minutes. Thanks for your patience as we work quickly to solve the issue."

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