O.J. SIMPSON MAY RETURN, AFTER ALL
O.J. Simpson will have the right to resell publication and TV rights to his book If I Did Itbefore the end of the year, Timemagazine reported Monday, citing a source close to Simpson, who also told the magazine that Simpson is seeking to have News Corp surrender the rights earlier than the original deal stipulates so that he can sell the book to European publishers. Meanwhile, Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman, one of Simpson's alleged victims, says that he is seeking to have News Corp turn the rights over to him, citing News Corp's earlier assertion that profits from the book would go to the victims' families. Goldman told Time: "If they want to be through with this, they should have no problem turning over those rights to us."
HAS YOUTUBE BROKEN AGREEMENT WITH WARNER?
YouTube has failed to comply with an agreement it signed with Warner music to install a system that would prevent copyrighted music videos from being pirated, News Corp's Australian news site, News.com.au, reported Monday. According to the website, YouTube had agreed to install an "advanced content identification and royalty report system" under the terms of an agreement with Warner that allowed some of its music-video library and performer interviews to be posted on YouTube.
COURT TV ADJOURNED ON DISH NETWORK
Court TV has been pulled from Echostar's DISH satellite system after the two companies were unable to reach a new contract agreement. Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of Court TV, issued a statement saying that Echostar was "unwilling to pay the standard industry rate for a popular network that is currently ranked in the Top 20. We are disappointed with their decision, and hope that we can reach resolution, but in the meantime, our cable operator partners and DirecTV are able to provide this network to Court TV fans." Echostar did not immediately comment.
TV REVIEWS: DIRT
Former Friendsstar Courtney Cox is getting revenge of sorts at the tabloids that have hounded her and her friends. In the new FX series Dirt,debuting tonight (Tuesday), Cox stars as the editor of two gossip magazines, one of them titled Drrt, the other, Now. She and husband David Arquette are also executive producers of the new series. New York TimesTV critic Alessandra Stanley described the show as "a labor of love about hate: vigilante filmmaking that allows Hollywood stars to fire back at the pestering paparazzi who stalk them." Nevertheless, she writes, "Dirttakes a very shallow look at the shallowness of show business." Tom Shales concludes in the Washington Post: "As an artfully smirking piece of work, Dirt is both nasty and tasty -- a very guilty pleasure perhaps best spoken of in dark alleys. Or watched through a keyhole." David Kronke in the Los Angeles Daily Newsalso has a generally favorable reaction to the series. "Dirt," he writes, "is filthy, but I mean that in an almost good way. Dirtis obsessed with bad behavior and has no qualms about depicting it as luridly as you're likely to see on television." Chicago Sun-TimesTV critic Doug Elfman has mixed feelings about the series, writing that the show "gets the ingredients right (the tone, acting and pacing are swell), but the dialogue doesn't make it addicting enough to watch, and the editing could be slicker more often." Edward P. Smith writes in the Denver Post: "An inside look at the sleazy world of tabloids turns out to be as ham-handed and crude as the world it intends to expose." And David Bianculli in the New York Daily Newsputs his finger on what he believes is wrong with the show when he writes, "There's no one, really, to root for or care about, as everyone jockeys for position to survive, thrive and devour."