The legal battles are over with Viacom gaining the right to call its TNN Network Spike TV. Movie director Spike Lee settled his legal debate July 7, 2003 with Viacom Inc. State Supreme Court judge Walt Tolub lifting his injunction barring Viacom from using the moniker Spike TV. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Viacom claims the delay has cost media conglom $30 million in marketing expenses.

On Friday, June 27, 2003, Marvel Enterprises filed yet another lawsuit worth $10M against SPIDER-MAN partner Sony, this time specifically Sony Electronics, reported VARIETY. Marvel claims in the suit, filed in L.A. Superior Court, that Sony Electronics refused to license the Spider-Man character for its electronic products like radios and portable CD players and has advised sister company Sony Pictures to do the same with competitors.

After a four-year hiatus for Disney comic books in the U.S. market, Disney Publishing Worldwide has signed a deal with Gemstone Publishing to bring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and other Disney favorites back onto the printed page. Gemstone will release the first two monthly comics, WALT DISNEY COMICS AND STORIES and UNCLE SCROOGE, in June at $6.95, while the first bi-monthly, DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES ($7.95), debuts in July, and monthlies DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS and MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS ($2.95), arrive in September.

Playhut Co., a toy designer and manufacturer, launched its own production and distribution company, Playhut Entertainment, to produce anime and children’s programming for home video and broadcast.

Just as it gears up for more VFX feature work, Blur Studio (www.blur.com) has moved into a new, 20,000 square-foot computer animation studio that is nearly triple the size of its former Venice, California headquarters. Through an international talent search, it has also increased its artistic staff to 65, with additional talent to come.

Based in the U.K., Jennifer Taylor and Clair Daintree have combined a wealth of expertise and recognition in the field of voice overs, as well as a unique link with Hollywood to provide a genuinely ‘full service’ voice over agency, Shining Management, Ltd., in London to service the broadcast and production industry.

Hong-Kong-based animation production house Stvdio Media has established an office in Los Angeles to handle sales and marketing for the North American Market. Founder/ceo Larry Feign, an American animator and cartoonist, has appointed Susan Goldstein to head the U.S. office. Goldstein worked for the Screen Actors Guild, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and was evp of VIDEO INSIDER.

On the heels of the HULK movie release, Marvel Enterprises Inc. and X3D Technical Corp. have united in a strategic licensing agreement that grants X3D exclusive three-dimensional publishing rights to past and future Marvel comic books in CD-ROM formats – Marvel ComX3D. For the first time, the agreement expands Marvel Comics' publication portfolio to be viewed in 3D on virtually any PC screen.

Leading children’s and family entertainment specialist, DECODE Entertainment in Toronto, has appointed Los Angeles-based The Sharpe Co. as worldwide licensing agent for its digital 2D animated preschool show FRANNY'S FEET. The series tells the exciting stories of a little girl whose fantastic feet take her on magical adventures when she tries on shoes in her grandfather’s repair shop.

FRANNY'S FEET (13x22) has been commissioned by Channel Five in the U.K., ABC in Australia, France 5 and Teletoon in France, Discover UYK and Canada's TeleQuebec.

Due to the success of Digital Fusion and DFX+, eyeon Software Inc. has opened two new offices – eyeon USA and eyeon Europe. Los Angeles-based eyeon USA is lead by Digital Fusion guru and director of business development, Rony Soussan, who has been influential in Digital Fusion's proliferation on the west coast, and has a long history as a digital compositor. Soussan offers expertise with both the product and the pipeline, as well as advanced training.

KirchMedia, the once mighty German media giant, shut down on June 16, 2003 after a flurry of attempts to buy it. It looked like the cash-strapped company was going to be owned by American entrepreneur Haim Saban, until the parties couldn't agree on final terms and nullified the deal after the contract expired on May 31. Management and creditors had hoped to restructure the company to maintain it until the market climate improved to sell it, but shareholders voted to sell off its main assets into separate companies.

Nickelodeon comes to Licensing Show June 10-13, 2003 in New York City at the Javits Center to kick off licensing programs for its latest hit show FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, the upcoming SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE and RUGRATS spin-off, ALL GROWN UP. Nickelodeon will also expand its current roster with movie licensing plans for A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS as well as the introduction of TAK AND THE POWER OF JUJU and EVERGIRL, its first off-channel properties. Nickelodeon can be found at Licensing Show booth #1317.

Just days after Hiam Saban withdrew his bid to acquire KirchMedia's television and its library, the American entrepreneur is said to be teaming up with a consortium to buy British broadcaster ITV. Some say he's looking to buy ITV shareholder companies Granada and Carlton, which are planning to merge to form a $4.4 billion ITV company. The two broadcast/production/distribution powerhouses are working on a solution to make their merger pass the Competition Commission regulator in the U.K.

"I'm definitely on my way back from hell," Will Vinton told AWN, a few months after the studio he founded, Vinton Studios, gave him the boot. The king of Claymation claims he is much happier now, having signed with Creative Artists Agency and is shopping around a number of animated projects, including a feature film script, THE QUEST, written by Peter Crabbe.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

My good friend and associate, Jim Hardison, said it best, "It's surreal!"

After many great years building Will Vinton Prods. and creating groundbreaking Claymation and 3D-animated films, television and commercials, and growing Will Vinton Studios, I have been forced out of active involvement with the company by Phil Knight and his associates. The situation could also be described as "Machiavellian"! And I expect you'll hear much more about this David and Goliath story in the near future.

Entrepreneur Haim Saban has dropped out of his $2.3 billion contract to buy Germany's biggest broadcaster ProSiebenSat 1 from bankrupt KirchMedia. Saban signed the 40,000-page contract on March 27, 2003 for the acquisition of the broadcaster and its programming rights to approximately 18,000 films and series, the largest film library outside of Hollywood. Over the next two months, Saban did not agree with KirchMedia and creditor banks on "details of the transaction" by the deadline of May 31 for the purchase of ProSiebenSat 1.

Dieselfx has commenced operations in Santa Monica, California. Elliot Jobe founded the new effects house after leaving Playground where he was the lead inferno artist. Joining the team with be Craig Price, Playground's former creative director and producer Alessandra Pasquino, who also worked at Playground. From design and production supervision to final finishes, the new firm has a wide range of serves for clients including a complete CGI package.