LIMA’s Kelvyn Gardner (007): A license to… reap the benefits of infintiely reproducable intellectual property February 20, 2017 In 1973 George Lucas approached Fox executives with an offer they couldn’t refuse: he would forfeit a 300 per cent salary increase in return for merchandising rights to Star Wars, and rights to any sequels. Rubbing their mitts behind muffled laughter, they graciously accepted what seemed like a naive offer from the young director. Of course [...]
YouTube’s double standards in banning PewDiePie February 20, 2017 If you've ever wondered what on earth a PewDiePie is, you’re not alone. He’s a man, Felix Kjellberg, who reviews video games online. In the YouTube world, he’s as famous as James Corden, as influential as Nick Robinson, and as we found out last week, as funny as Jim Davidson. “Very rich Swedish man pays [...]
Vedanta’s revenue has ballooned as commodity prices increase February 20, 2017 India-focused mining, oil and power firm Vedanta Resources said revenue increased over its third quarter as a result of higher commodity prices and production volumes. The figures The firm's revenue increased 26 per cent to $3.07bn (£2.46bn) in the third quarter, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) surged 79 per cent to $882.3m from $493.6m the previous year. However, revenue [...]
RMT and Aslef to ballot Night Tube drivers for strike action February 20, 2017 The RMT and Aslef unions said this morning they will ballot Night Tube drivers for industrial action over a "block on career progression". Both unions are protesting what they see as obstruction of drivers' career progression. Aslef has set a deadline of 10am on Thursday 16 March for the return of ballot papers. According to the [...]
Reiss snaps up retail boss tipped for M&S clothing job February 20, 2017 Reiss has appointed Christos Angelides as its new chief executive. Angelides, who has spent 28 years at rival retailer Next, had been tipped to become Marks and Spencer's clothing and homeware boss. But he said today that he has "long admired the strength of the Reiss brand" and looks forward to working with founder and [...]
Uber’s facing some serious allegations of sexism, harassment and a toxic work culture February 20, 2017 Uber is facing serious allegations of sexism in the workplace after explosive revelations from a former engineer at the billion-dollar startup. Chief executive Travis Kalanick labelled the behaviour "abhorrent" and "against everything we believe in", promising an investigation, after former engineer Susan Fowler published details of her experience at the company. In the blog post, she describes being [...]
An old Irish lady found one of the last £50k Jane Austen fivers and donated it to charity February 20, 2017 There's still a £5 engraved with a tiny portrait of Jane Austen floating around – after the last one was discovered and donated to charity. Back in December artist Graham Short declared he had engraved four of the Bank of England's new fivers with a tiny, 5mm, picture of the author, plus a quote from her [...]
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Donald Trump’s Sweden incident comments February 20, 2017 Donald Trump caused confusion over the weekend when he referred to an "incident in Sweden" while talking about previous terrorist attacks in Europe at a rally in Florida on Saturday. The US President told his audience to "look what's happening last night in Sweden" – prompting many to wonder what had occurred but seemingly gone [...]
UK house prices grow at their slowest in four years – as Rightmove warns “overpriced properties won’t sell” February 20, 2017 UK house prices grew at their slowest four years in February, new data from Rightmove has shown – as it warned agents against setting properties' prices too high. Asking prices rose just 2.3 per cent in the year to February, according to the figures – down from 3.2 per cent in the year to January, [...]
German producer price change doubles to set path to consumer inflation breaking ECB target February 20, 2017 Producer price inflation in Germany more than doubled in January as inflationary pressure continues to build in the Eurozone’s largest economy. Factory gate prices rose by 2.4 per cent year-on-year, according to flash estimates by the German Federal Statistics Authority, the fastest pace of inflation for manufacturers since March 2012. German producer prices were falling [...]