Image Entertainment picks up 50 Cent film at festival (Reuters)

By Joshua L. Weinstein Joshua L. Weinstein – Fri Sep 9, 9:21 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The rapper 50 Cent is taking some cues from Adrien Brody and Christian Bale -- losing all kinds of weight for a film role.

Image Entertainment liked what it saw enough that the company has acquired "All Things Fall Apart," which stars 50 Cent and Ray Liotta. Mario Van Peebles directed and co-stars.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, plays a college football star who's on his way to winning a Heisman Trophy when he is diagnosed with a tumor inches from his heart. 50 Cent lost 80 pounds for the role.

Image acquired the rights from Hannibal Pictures just before the Toronto International Film Festival began and has slated the movie for a theatrical release early in 2012.

50 Cent and Randall Emmett of Cheetah Vision Films produced "All Things Fall Apart."

The movie has played at the Miami International Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, the Aruba International Film Festival and the Peachtree Village International Film Festival in Atlanta.

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Tenn. passes Web entertainment theft bill (AP)

By SHEILA BURKE and LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press Sheila Burke And Lucas L. Johnson Ii, Associated Press – Wed Jun 1, 1:44 pm ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – State lawmakers in country music's capital have passed a groundbreaking measure that would make it a crime to use a friend's login — even with permission — to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix or Rhapsody.

The bill, now awaiting the governor's signature, was pushed by recording industry officials to try to stop the loss of billions of dollars to illegal music sharing. They hope other states will follow.

The legislation was aimed at hackers and thieves who sell passwords in bulk, but its sponsors acknowledge it could be employed against people who use a friend's or relative's subscription.

While those who share their subscriptions with a spouse or other family members under the same roof almost certainly have nothing to fear, blatant offenders — say, college students who give their logins to everyone on their dormitory floor — could get in trouble.

"What becomes not legal is if you send your user name and password to all your friends so they can get free subscriptions," said the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Gerald McCormick.

Under the measure, download services that believe they are getting ripped off can go to law enforcement authorities and press charges.

The bill expands an existing law used to prosecute people who steal cable television or leave restaurants without paying for their meals. It adds "entertainment subscription service" to the list of services protected by the law.

Tennessee would become the first state to update its theft-of-cable laws for the 21st century and address the new trend toward Internet delivery of entertainment, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

"I think it's stupid," college student Josh Merbitz said of the law. The 20-year-old music education major at Middle Tennessee State University said he watches Netflix movies online using the password of his friend's father, with the father's permission.

Stealing $500 or less of entertainment would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,500. Theft with a higher price tag would be a felony, with heavier penalties.

Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday that he hasn't yet reviewed the bill but expressed support for steps to reduce music piracy, citing the large record industry presence in Nashville.

"I don't know enough about that legislation, but if it's combating that issue, I would be in favor of it," Haslam said.

The recording industry, a major taxpayer in Tennessee, loses money when users share accounts for music services instead of paying separately.

Mitch Glazier, executive vice president of public policy for the RIAA, said the bill is a necessary protective measure as digital technology evolves. The music industry has seen its domestic revenue plunge by more than half in 10 years, from $15 billion to $7 billion, he said.

Bill Ramsey, a Nashville lawyer who practices both entertainment law and criminal defense, said that he doubts the law would be used to ban people in the same household from sharing subscriptions, and that small-scale violations involving a few people would, in any case, be difficult to detect. But "when you start going north of 10 people, a prosecutor might look and say, `Hey, you knew it was stealing,'" Ramsey said.

Music industry officials said they usually catch people who steal and resell logins in large quantities because they advertise.

Among the measure's critics is public defender David Doyle, who said the wording is too vague and overly broad. He said an "entertainment subscription" could be interpreted to mean a magazine subscription or a health club membership.

Kelly Kruger, an 18-year-old aerospace major at Middle Tennessee State University, said she likes to watch Netflix movies online in her dorm by logging in with her mother's account information. Kruger said she hands out the login information to friends who don't live with her.

Even with a law against it, "I think people will keep doing it, like illegal downloading," Kruger said.

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Home of Country Music clamps down on entertainment piracy (Reuters)

NASHVILLE (Reuters) – Tennessee, home to the capital of Country Music, passed a law to crack down on the use of someone else's name and password to get online entertainment, drawing praise from the recording industry.

The new law was passed by both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly May 19 and signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam on Memorial Day.

The bill was pushed by Nashville's recording industry and adds theft of online entertainment user names and passwords on services such as Rhapsody and Netflix, to existing law.

"Given the significant economic contributions of the music industry to the state (Tennessee), it's important to ensure that the hard work of artists, musicians and labels is protected against emerging ways to steal music," said Mitch Glazier, D.C.-based executive vice president for public policy and industry relations for the Recording Industry Association of America.

It was a closely followed measure in Nashville, the long-time home of the country music industry which increasingly has become the recording center for many major rock acts.

It is not necessarily targeted at college students who share their passwords with other students, but it does not let them off the hook. "It's technically against the law to give your user name and password out to people not in your household," said Stephanie Jarnagin, research analyst for Senate sponsor Jim Tracy, a Republican.

The biggest offenders and targets of the law are those who deal in the black market of passwords, she said.

"What happens is people will hack into the system and steal thousands of user names and passwords and sell them for 50 cents a pop," said Jarnagin.

The penalty remains the same as the prior statute, $500 or less if it is a misdemeanor, and over $500 if it is a felony. The class of the felony and the punishment escalates with the value of the services stolen.

The way Tennessee is targeting this piracy is unique, Glazier said on Wednesday.

"While some states may already include subscription services in the scope of their theft of services laws, this is the first time a state has reviewed its cable theft law on the books in a forward-thinking manner to assure it is updated to address how entertainment is delivered today," he said.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

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Mary Hart makes exit from `Entertainment Tonight' (AP)

NEW YORK – The list of exiting TV personalities seems to lengthen every day: Oprah Winfrey; Regis Philbin; Larry King; Katie Couric; Jim Lehrer; Meredith Vieira.

Don't overlook Mary Hart, whose last "Entertainment Tonight" broadcast is Friday. Celebrity and entertainment coverage has changed markedly since she began anchoring the show in its first year in 1982.

It was the first weekday syndicated show devoted solely to entertainment news when it began, and has remained at the top of the ratings as similar shows came along. And "ET" as it is fondly known, remains one of the top sources for celeb news among the many other shows, websites, magazines and news outlets now covering the subject.

"She will be missed," said Bill Carroll, an expert in the syndicated television market for Katz Media. "She has become iconic."

Hart earned a hug from David Letterman and her own "Late Show" Top Ten list last week: "Things Mary Hart Has Learned in 29 Years of Hosting 'Entertainment Tonight.'" (No. 4: "Tom Hanks is a total loser," as the camera cut to tape of a befuddled Hanks. No. 1 was: "Nothing.")

Hart, a former Miss South Dakota and now 60, has worked with five male co-hosts, most notably John Tesh and currently Mark Steines. Nancy O'Dell will replace her.

"I'd been thinking about this for a very long time knowing it would be difficult and it is difficult," Hart said. "It's a very strange feeling knowing that I'm doing a final show and actually saying goodbye on the air. It makes me very emotional at times."

Hart said she never intended to be on the show that long but liked the people with whom she worked and it was a good job to have for her and her marriage to producer Burt Sugarman, and their son.

Now, she said, "If I want to do something else, I have to do it now. I can't wait." She's not sure what she'll be doing — it might include television, it might not.

"When I look back and see the preponderance of reality TV and all these types of shows, it makes me think I don't want to be in television anymore," she said.

Hart is proud of her show's pioneer status and its ability to stay on top, and suggests it's not as fluffy as some critics assume it to be.

She also knows what shows such as hers have wrought.

"I find that celebrities are not as forthcoming as they used to be, because they are pulled in every direction," she said. The Internet has loosened standards about reporting and verification, she said, and added a nastiness in tone. "Entertainment Tonight" had its own problems three years ago after falsely reporting that Angelina Jolie had given birth to twins despite being told the report was a hoax.

Then there was the sad feeding frenzy around Charlie Sheen.

"We didn't even go after an interview with Charlie Sheen," she said. "We didn't have to. He was everywhere."

Hart's show "was ahead of its time, and depending on how you feel about it, that's a good or a bad thing," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.

Two of the stories that stick to Hart personally through the years would have been perfect fodder for "Entertainment Tonight": her million-dollar legs and the odd 1991 incident where a medical journal reported that the sound of Hart's voice triggered seizures in an epileptic woman, which inspired a "Seinfeld" episode.

Hart reports on the world of celebrity culture but is clearly part of it herself.

Take those legs — so impressive that "Entertainment Tonight" put her behind a glass desk with special lighting so viewers wouldn't miss them.

"When I'm wearing pants and walking across a hotel lobby, people would say, 'Why aren't you showing off those legs?'" she said. "It is a little jarring. Still, I get a kick out of it. I can't take offense. I have nothing to complain about."

She's built up plenty of relationships with the rich and famous from seeing them so many times through the years. She talks about "my friends Maria and Arnold" (that would be Shriver and Schwarzenegger, who just announced a separation) and how she's talked with Shriver about dealing with life's transitions.

She's friendly with singer Marie Osmond, and attended the funeral of Osmond's son, who committed suicide last year. She learned in confidence that Osmond had reconnected with her first husband but kept it a secret until getting the go-ahead from Osmond to report that the couple had remarried.

"There are times when you have to keep something and respect that friendship," Hart said.

The time in her job has given Hart a perspective that few in her field can claim.

"I've seen people's attitudes be humble and swell and shrink again because everybody's career has an ebb and flow to it," she said. "Thirty years makes you really see that."

___

Online:

http://www.etonline.com

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