[Michlib-l] Sony (SPE and SME) and Freegal (Library Ideas, LLC) Music and Movies

[Jim Flury]

All,

No doubt you've heard and/or read the recent news regarding Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Here is the most recent NYT article I've seen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/business/media/as-more-documents-appear-sony-seeks-to-calm-nervous-employees.html

I am sending this post on account Library Ideas, LLC is a library vendor for Freegal Music http://www.freegalmusic.com/ and Freegal Movies http://freegalmovies.com/index Freegal Music offers the entire Sony Music Entertainment (SME) catalog to libraries. Freegal Movies does not make the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) catalog available to libraries. Earlier today I reached out to the president of Library Ideas, LLC, a person whom I've known for a long time, to ask for his thoughts regarding this matter. He noted as to how Freegal does not have any Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) offerings in its library catalog, and that SPE is a separate company (although also a subsidiary of Sony) from SME. He also said that Library Ideas, LLC does not share any information with SME other than the total number of checkouts, so that even if there had been a data breach of SME there really wouldn't be any data to breach. 

Finally, as would be the case with most any company president, he would not put his thoughts into writing without attorney review, so what I am sharing here is a transcript of our conversation.

I have not contacted other vendors that may (or may not) be involved in the distribution of SPE and/or SME content to libraries.

Jim

Jim Flury
Technical Services Manager
The Library Network
41365 Vincenti Court 
Novi, MI 48375
248-536-3100 x133 
Fax 248-536-3098 
jflury at tln.lib.mi.us