Mediagazer: Rate Court Judge Rules Pandora Will Pay ASCAP 1.85% Annual Revenue (Ed Christman/Billboard)

7:50 PM ET, March 14, 2014

Top News:

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Can ‘Veronica Mars’ Convince Mainstream Hollywood to Embrace Crowdfunding? — “Veronica Mars” will be the greatest test yet of Hollywood's uneasy relationship with crowdfunding. — Few established filmmakers had experimented with Kickstarter when Rob Thomas, creator of the “Veronica Mars” …

Discussion: Gawker, Variety and Los Angeles Times

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Kickstarter brings hundreds of its funded films to iTunes — Kickstarter today launched a new room on iTunes, featuring “hundreds” of films that have launched thanks to the crowdfunding service. Some notable Kickstarter-funded films in the room include Veronica Mars, Gimme the Loot …

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:

What a German Comedy Can Teach Kristen Bell About Crowdfunding — After three weeks near the top of the German box office, “Stromberg” is set to pay back online fans who invested $1.4 million to get it made. — Kirsten Bell's Veronica Mars reboot is set to light up the box office …

Sarah Harrison / Guardian:

Britain is treating journalists as terrorists - believe me, I know — My links to WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden mean I am treated as a threat and can't return to the UK. We need a free speech roadmap — Free speech and freedom of the press are under attack in the UK.

Discussion: @dangillmor, @higgis, @runasand, @wikileakssforum and @webmink

Reuters:

Sina Weibo files for $500 million U.S. IPO — A man holds an iPhone as he visits Sina's Weibo microblogging site in Shanghai May 29, 2012. — (Reuters) - Twitter-like messaging service Weibo Corp filed on Friday to raise $500 million via a U.S. initial public offering …

Discussion: Gigaom, @wsjd, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, @wsjd and @hannahkuchler

Bloomberg:

Jennifer Lopez-Backed NuvoTV Said to Make Offer for Fuse — Jennifer Lopez, the singer and actress who dated Sean “Diddy” Combs more than a decade ago, is now challenging her former beau as the two compete for Madison Square Garden Co.'s Fuse TV, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Discussion: Reuters, EURweb, @sfnick, The Boombox, TheCelebrityCafe.com and Mediawire Daily

Ed Christman / Billboard:

Rate Court Judge Rules Pandora Will Pay ASCAP 1.85% Annual Revenue — In what is being viewed as a defeat for songwriters, the ASCAP/Pandora rate court judge has decided that Pandora will pay the performance rights organization a rate of 1.85% of annual revenue.

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press and Bloomberg

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Vice News Quickly Makes Mark With Ukraine Dispatches — NEW YORK — Vice News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky has reported extensively through Central Asia, the Middle East and the Caucasus region, but says he's never encountered as much hostility as he has covering the Russian invasion of Crimea.

Discussion: NY Daily News and Columbia Journalism Review

Brian Fung / The Switch:

Reporters Without Borders: For the first time, America is an enemy of the Internet — For the first time, the United States has made it onto Reporters Without Borders' “Enemies of the Internet” list, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Jillian York. — How did Washington win this distinguished (dis)honor?

Discussion: Poynter, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Huffington Post and Reporters Without Borders

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:

European VOD Service Viewster Kicks Off $100,000 Online Film Competition — Users can vote on the 84 shorts and features submitted to the first annual Viewster Online Film Fest. — European VOD service Viewster has launched its first-ever online film festival, putting up $100,000 …

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Newspaper ill-advised to let police post their own online story — A newspaper that allowed its local police force to publish an article directly on to its website should be wary of celebrating the initiative. — Torbay police posted a “story” on the site of the Torquay Herald Express …

Discussion: HoldTheFrontPage and @gazthejourno

Joanna Plucinska / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A: Radio Free Europe's Ukrainian director — Maryana Drach on her staff's experiences reporting on the conflict — For journalists in Ukraine, safety has become a leading concern. Radio Svoboda, the Ukrainian branch of Radio Free Europe, had been covering the protests (in Ukrainian) since they started in November.

Discussion: Forbes

Reuters:

Comcast deal may offer media companies leverage on fees — (Reuters) - Media companies plan to press Comcast Corp for higher fees in the coming year, seeing an opportunity to squeeze better terms from the U.S. cable company as regulators review its planned takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc.

Discussion: Forbes

Haniya Rae / Digiday:

How Time Out NY's rethinking for digital — As a print publication of nightlife and restaurant listings, Time Out New York is an outlier in a world with Foursquare, Yelp, Urbanspoon and any number of apps to connect people with things to do and places to go. — That's why it's retooling for digital.