Proposed Disc Manufacturing Law Headed to California Governor’s Desk [Updated]

A bill that requires California’s optical disc manufacturers to comply with stricter anti-piracy measures has passed in both houses of the state’s legislature.

Following the California Assembly’s passage of the SB 550 bill on Wednesday (via California Newswire), the State Senate agreed to the Assembly’s amendments (PDF of the latest version of the bill here). The legislation, introduced earlier this year by California State Senator Alex Padilla, aims to strengthen an existing law that requires the state’s CD, DVD, and Blu-ray replicators to include source identification information on every disc they manufacture.

A spokesman for State Sen. Padilla told M&E Daily that the anti-piracy bill was now “on its way” to the desk of California Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. The Governor has not commented on the pending legislation.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been vocal in its support for the bill, which also subjects California replication facilities to warrantless inspections and increases fines against companies that fail to comply with the measures.

Replicator EDC Expands with French Office

Entertainment Distribution Company (EDC) has opened a new office in France, as the supply chain services firm — which maintains CD and DVD replication operations in Germany — seeks to win French software publishers and others as new clients.

The French office is headed by Maxime Hueber, who hails from fellow entertainment distributor Arvato Digital Services (via Digital2Disc).

AmericDirect Expands with ESP Acquisition

AmericDirect has finalized the acquisition of the value-added service segments of DVD manufacturer/distributor Eastern Standard Productions (ESP) of Buffalo, NY.

The acquisition follows the company’s establishment of DeringDirect in September 2010, in a bid to develop new markets for its packaged media manufacturing and fulfillment businesses.

ESP, founded in 1979, offers services that range from recording and editing to package design and DVD replication/duplication.

Sony DADC To Close N.J. Replication Plant

Sony DADC plans to close its long-running CD production facility in Pitman, N.J., at the end of March, in further consolidation of its disc manufacturing operations.

The company will transfer replication work from Pitman to its North American headquarters in Terre Haute, Ind., according to local New Jersey paper The Cherry Hill Courier-Post. The Pitman plant, which employs 300, originally opened in 1960 and has been producing CDs for more than 20 years.

Sony DADC moved DVD replication from the Pitman facility to its Terre Haute plant last February.

Furnace MFG Taking Orders For Record Store Day 2011; Event Organizers Announce Black Friday Exclusives

Fairfax, Va.-based replicator Furnace MFG is teaming with the organizers of Record Store Day, the annual promotional event for independently-owned music retailers, to offer participating artists and labels its range of vinyl, CD and DVD manufacturing services.

Furnace chief executive Eric Astor says that the company plans to offer discounts on replication orders for artists and labels supporting the spring promotion. The company maintains more than 40 active vinyl record presses; the company is co-owner of Pallas USA, a partnership with vinyl replicator Pallas Group of Germany. (Release here.)

The fourth-annual Record Store Day, set for April 16, 2011, looks to build on an event whose most recent outing saw shops in the U.S. and 18 other countries market more than 200 exclusive releases.

Separately, the Record Store Day organizers announced that affiliated shops will be stocking a variety of exclusive releases for this season’s Black Friday (Nov. 26). Titles include new live recordings from U2 and Metallica, and 180-gram vinyl reissues of albums from the likes of George Harrison and The Doors.

Replicator Offers ‘Green’ Printing Services

GreenDigitalPrinting.com — a brand of Canadian CD/DVD replicator Precision Disc Manufacturing – employs waste-reducing digital printing processes, recycled paper and board substrates, and inks that are compliant with environmental standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other governmental organizations. Via PR Web

Marketing With Packaged Media: Half-Million CDs For Diaper Brand’s Movie Tie-In

Proof that optical discs are still viable for marketing and promotion applications: Indianapolis-based replicator TriDigital Solutions says it will manufacture more than 300,000 CDs as part of a bundling promotion between a “major entertainment and movie production company” and a “well-known diaper company.”

TriDigital’s National Sales Director, Greg Phelps, notes that an additional 200,000 units will be replicated in September, with subsequent orders over the contract’s three-year term. The promotion will appear in major retail outlets across the U.S.

“One of the CD packaging requirements we had to meet was that all inks had to be FDA approved because the promotion is packaged into pull-up diapers,” says Phelps. “The client is giving us approximately twelve days to manufacture, package, and ship this to the co-packer who will be bundling them with the diapers.” Via PR Web

Replicator Furnace MFG Intros ‘Merch Select’ Services

CD, DVD and vinyl replicator Furnace MFG is courting independent musicians with a new set of services for disc manufacturing, order processing, and merchandise distribution. The company receives an endorsement from “American Idol” finalist Anoop Desai, who recently used Furnace’s Merch Select services to build and host an e-commerce store. Via PR Web

European Replicator Acquires Scotland-Based Print Shop

Scottish printer Thomson Litho has been acquired by the Czech Republic’s GZ Digital Media for an undisclosed sum. Thomson, which claims to be Scotland’s oldest independently owned printing company, also has a manufacturing presence in the Czech Republic, and has worked with the CD, DVD and vinyl replication company in a partnership agreement since 2003. By PrintWeek

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