Black Friday News: Machinima, MTV and Kevin Smith, Amanda Congdon, Google Video Lawsuit, and Illegal iPod Activity

- Three fun pieces from the LA Times....

> `Dialogue is added to video game scenes to become the art of machinima'


> Amanda Congdon, one of the first wave of semi-pro video bloggers (`Rocketboom'), is now repped by Ari Emanuel at Endeavor, and has deals with ABCNews.com and HBO. The Times explains


> Kevin Smith, working with UCLA Film and TV Students, is now making short videos for the Web and cell phones, in a partnership with MTV

- A French documentary producer is suing Google because his film, 'The World According to Bush,' showed up on Google Video without his OK. From the Variety story:

"This isn't a war against the Internet. I'm a big fan of Google and I use it all the time," [producer Jean-Francois ] LePetit told Variety," but it isn't possble to develop legal services on the Internet as long as this kind of parasitic activity continues to exist. Google must assume its responsibilities."

- The US Copyright Office says it ain't legal to decrypt DVDs that you own and then transfer them onto an iPod or other video player, according to the Associated Press.