One big name that likely won’t be at this year’s Oscars: Kodak.
The Eastman Kodak Co. received court approval Wednesday to end its sponsorship deal with the Hollywood theater that is the venue for the Academy Awards.
Kodak signed a $74 million deal for naming rights to the theater in 2000. But the struggling photography company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and wanted to end its contract for naming rights of the glamorous Los Angeles theater as it tries to improve its finances.
The company’s financial advisers said in court documents that the benefits of having the company’s name on the 3,300-seat erstwhile Kodak Theatre aren’t worth the contract’s cost.
Kodak confirmed Wednesday that a U.S. Bankruptcy judge approved its request to end the deal.
It’s unclear what name will be on the theater when the Oscars are awarded Feb. 26. Kodak said the termination is effective immediately and deferred questions on the theater’s name to the venue’s owners and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
CIM Group, which owns the theater, declined to comment on the decision or the future of the theater’s name. A representative for the academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the theater’s name, its owners may have to make other tweaks.
The theater has a George Eastman Room, named after Kodak’s founder, which displays one of the nine Oscar statuettes that Kodak has been awarded through the years for its scientific and technical achievements and contributions to the industry, according to the theater’s website
Kodak, based in Rochester, N.Y., is a photography pioneer but has been battered by competition and has failed to keep up with the shift from film to digital technology. It has been in a roughly decade-long turnaround but filed for bankruptcy protection when it ran short on cash.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York handling the case also approved a $950 million debtor-in-possession financing for Kodak on Wednesday that allows it to operate normally during bankruptcy, while it tries to sell its collection of digital-imaging patents.
Kodak spokesman Christopher Veronda said the company will still have a presence at the awards show. He noted that seven of the nine films nominated for the Oscar for best picture were shot on Kodak film.
Bankruptcy court approves Kodak’s financing
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New York is approving Eastman Kodak Co.’s $950 million debtor-in-possession financing.
The photography company announced the court’s decision Wednesday. The money allows Kodak to operate normally during bankruptcy, while it tries to sell its collection of digital-imaging patents.
Following drawn-out efforts to revive its business, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January when it ran short of cash. The $950 million financing includes an initial $650 million from Citigroup Inc. approved by the court when Kodak first filed.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More