The Entertainment Merchants Association has added three new members into the association this week. The three businesses joining the association are DHX, OVGuide, and Redbox Instant.

The Entertainment Merchants Association announced today that Redbox's David Asch has joined the EMA Board of Directors. Asch is senior vice president of content of Redbox, responsible for content strategy and acquisition.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) announced this week that it will add a series of discussions on digital video game distribution and retailing to its upcoming 2013 Digital Media Pipeline conference, to be held Sept. 24 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The one-day event will bring together experts in the digital entertainment industry, including retailers, distributors, content aggregators, service providers and more.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) today applauded the efforts of retailers in the United States for continuing to show record levels of enforcement of video game and DVD ratings. The praise comes in response to the results of a Federal Trade Commission survey released today. That survey found that video game retailers turned away unaccompanied 13- to 16-year-olds who attempted to purchase Mature-rated games 87 percent of the time and turned away under-aged children who attempted to purchase R-rated or unrated DVDs 70 percent of the time.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) announced today that its Board of Directors has unanimously selected Mark Fisher to be the President and Chief Executive Officer of the trade association, effective immediately. Fisher has served as Interim President of EMA since the retirement of Bo Andersen in November of 2012.

Good news, procrastinators!

The deadline to apply for an Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) scholarship has been extended to March 15.

From the EMA's press release:

"The EMA Scholarship Foundation awards academic scholarships to employees of EMA-member companies and their immediate family members who will be engaged in undergraduate and graduate study on a full-time basis. Awardees will receive up to $6,000 total, which will be issued in annual increments."

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden offering its input on the effort he is leading to develop policy recommendations to address the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy that resulted in the death of 20 children and six adults.

Bo Andersen, the man who has served as the President & CEO of the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) for 13 years, has decided to retire, effective November 15. The announcement was made by EMA Chair Bob Geistman.

Consumption of entertainment via digital has grown 74 percent in 2012, according to the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA). The data comes from a new report by the trade group called "D2 Report: Discs & Digital – The Business of Home Entertainment Retailing." The report found that various digital formats including electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, and subscription streaming grew 51 percent in 2011 and 74 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Much of this popularity can be explained by the increase in tablet and mobile devices being used in U.S.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has revealed the winners of its 2012 scholarship program. The trade group that represents retailers in the United States (and was the lead in Brown v. EMA) has awarded five students $1,500 a year for up to four years who are entering college as freshmen.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has reappointed board members from six companies including Dish Network, Giant Eagle, Rain City Video, Redbox, Rentrak, and Target have been reappointed to the board for a term of three years.

Former Entertainment Software Association (ESA) senior vice present and general counsel Kenneth Doroshow has joined the law firm of Jenner & Block as a partner. Jenner & Block is a law firm that specializes in media and entertainment and is located in Washington D.C.

Doroshow and Jenner & Block partner Paul Smith led the legal team that won the Supreme Court Case Brown v. EMA. The court ultimately struck down the California law authored by California State Senator Leland Yee (D- San Francisco).

In the old days, Supreme Court Justices had very little information to turn to outside of legal briefs presented by combatants and case law when making a ruling, but a new study by William & Mary law professor Allison Orr Larsen finds that justice are increasingly turning to information on the Internet to shore up their opinions. According to research from Larsen, there were more than 100 instances where justices used information on the Internet in their opinions.

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), and National Association of Theatre Owners declare June to be "Entertainment Ratings and Labeling Awareness Month." June has been proclaimed "Entertainment Ratings and Labeling Awareness Month" by the groups since 2004. The participating organizations are encouraging movie theaters, and retailers of movies, music, and video games to highlight the importance of ratings systems to their customers.

The state of California has agreed to pay the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) $950,000 in legal fees related to arguing Brown v. EMA before the U.S. Supreme Court. When combined with reimbursements for the 2008 case (which the state already paid), the grand total that California paid the ESA comes to $1,327,000.

Destructoid's irreverent and outspoken Jim Sterling pens an open letter to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) to point out their hypocrisy for supporting free speech in one instance and then going against it in another. 

The Entertainment Software Association, the trade group that represents the video game industry, spent almost $1.1 million in lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. in the third quarter of 2011. The group lobbied on a variety of issues such as energy efficiency, entertainment industry ratings, parental control technology, foreign trade policy reform, the H1-B visa program, piracy, and copyright issues. The group spent about the same amount of money that it did in the second quarter of this year - slightly less than in the third quarter of 2010.

After losing the mayoral race in San Francisco, California state senator Leland Yee is getting back into the groove.. of targeting violent video games and giving parents advice before they go out shopping for the holidays. The good senator from the San Francisco/San Mateo district issued a press release this morning urging parents not to buy their children violent video games for the holidays.

It looks like the State of California and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) have not quite completed their courtroom business together, but the rest of their battle will take place in a lower court.

The Supreme Court of the United States chose not to make a ruling on the EMA’s request that the court award it $1.4 million in attorney’s fees and expenses related to Brown v. EMA (08-1448). Instead, the court sent it back to the Ninth Circuit Court for adjudication.

While it might not be flashy, it's news. The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) announced that its Board of Directors has elected officers for the 2011-12 year. Bob Geistman (Ingram Entertainment) has been re-elected to a seventh consecutive term as Chairman of EMA, John Marmaduke (Hastings Entertainment, Inc.) was elected to serve as Vice Chairman, and Marty Graham (Rentrak Corporation) was named Treasurer.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (or EMA - who you may know better for their Supreme Court victory against the state of California) announced that the annual Digital Media Pipeline will be held on September 7. This year the event will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Digital Media Pipeline is a one-day conference presented by the EMA that focuses on business-to-business opportunities in the digital delivery of home entertainment to the consumer. This year will mark the third time the event has been presented.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is seeking $1.1 million in legal fees from California for its work related to Brown v. EMA. The move is not an unfamiliar one for the trade group, who has successfully sued and won fees in the lower courts in states throughout the country (notably Louisiana, Michigan, and Illinois), but this is a first at the highest level of the U.S. court system.

"It's unfortunate that some officials continue to believe that unconstitutional laws are the answer, when time and time again courts have thrown out these bills and proven them to be a waste of taxpayers' dollars," the ESA said in a statement... four years ago. Hopefully California's government will listen after this expensive lesson in constitutional law.

According to a Bloomberg report, The Entertainment Software Association spent around $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2011 on lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. The trade group that represent the interactive entertainment industry in North America spent that money on lobbying federal agencies and Congress on the regulation of game content, international trade, the First Amendment and other issues, according to a disclosure report. The ESA (as a participant alongside the Entertainment Merchants Association) scored a victory Monday when the Supreme Court struck down the 2005 California law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to minors.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello tells IndustryGamers that today's decision from the Supreme Court on California's violent videogame law is a win for everyone. Last year Riccitiello expressed concern that publishers would be forced to ship different versions of the same title if new rules were implemented in California and other states. He feared state level bureaucracies that define what’s marketable in each state. Today's ruling makes that less likely to happen.

"Everybody wins on this decision – the Court has affirmed the Constitutional rights of game developers; adults keep the right to decide what’s appropriate in their houses; and store owners can sell games without fear of criminal prosecution," Riccitiello told IndustryGamers in a statement today.

Bo Andersen, CEO of Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has released a statement on the U.S. Supreme court's ruling on Brown v. EMA. Obviously they are pleased with the decision, but cautions that this is a wake-up call to the fact that parents are often under-informed about the content of videogames. He also notes that the ESRB rating system does a good job of informing parents.

"EMA welcomes today’s Supreme Court ruling that let stand the Court of Appeals’ decision finding the California video game restriction law to be unconstitutional," said Bo Andersen, CEO of Entertainment Merchants Association. "We are gratified that our position that the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression has been vindicated and there now can be no argument whether video games are entitled to the same protection as books, movies, music, and other expressive entertainment."

With summer vacation on its way later this month in most parts of the country and with children looking for things to do when they aren't outside, it makes perfect sense that June has been declared Entertainment Ratings & Labeling Awareness Month by DiMA, EMA, NARM, and NATO (no, not THAT NATO).

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), and National Association of Theatre Owners are calling on theatre owners and retailers of movies, music, and video games to highlight and emphasize the motion picture and video game ratings and music labeling systems to their customers.

Bo Andersen, President & CEO of the Entertainment Merchants Association today applauded the efforts of video game and DVD retailers in enforcing ratings systems and keeping adult material out of the hands of teenagers. Both groups did pretty well in the latest "undercover shop" by the Federal Trade Commission, which seeks to identify the level of ratings enforcement by leading video game, DVD, music retailers and movie theaters. Andersen said,

"[The] EMA is pleased with the leading performance of its members in enforcement of the video game ratings and the significant improvement in enforcement of the DVD ratings. The credit for these improvements goes to the individual retailers who have made ratings enforcement a part of their corporate culture, and in the case of video games, the ESRB and their ESRB Retail Council."

Applications are now being accepted for the Entertainment Merchants Association's 2011 academic scholarships. The scholarships which will be awarded to a number of "deserving top college-bound students or graduate students within the EMA-member family."

"We are proud that, since its establishment in 1987, the EMA Scholarship Foundation has provided financial assistance totaling more than $1,000,000 to over 228 students,” noted Andersen. “This has been made possible through the generosity of our member companies that have contributed to the foundation.”

EMA’s Scholarship competition is open annually to high-school seniors who will be entering college as freshmen in the following year; undergraduates currently attending a four-year college institution, and graduate students.

As for eligibility:

The Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy offers an exhaustive analysis of Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association in an article called "The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association."

Beatrice M. Hahn dissects every aspect of the case - from the positions of both sides and the lack of data supporting the state's case, to free speech issues and the definition of obscenity. While the lengthy review of the case is interesting, readers will be more fascinated with the conclusions: the Supreme Court will probably rule against California's 2005 video game law.

From the last three paragraphs of the article: