Yesterday the Entertainment Merchant's Association (EMA) handed out its annual "Digi" Awards "for outstanding achievement in digital entertainment content, retailing, leadership, and innovation." The awards were handed out by EMA President and CEO Mark Fisher as part of its Digital Media Pipeline, held this week at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Marty Graham, the president of Home Entertainment at Rentrak has been elected as the new Chairman of the trade group the Entertainment Merchants Association. The election took place during the 2014-2015 EMA Board meeting on July 23. Graham replaces Bob Geistman, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Ingram Entertainment, who chaired the Board for a decade. Geistman will remain on the EMA Board as Treasurer.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has honored actor Haley Joel Osment with the Independent Career Achievement Award, for his work in independent studio films, major studio releases, television shows, web series, and video games. The award was presented at EMA’s 2014 Independent Product Market at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Marina del Rey, California this week.

It's June, which means it's time for the Entertainment Merchants Association, the Digital Media Association (DiMA), Music Business Association (Music Biz), and National Association of Theatre Owners to remind consumers that this month is "Entertainment Ratings and Labeling Awareness Month." This coalition of trade groups representing various industries has chosen June as the month to raise awareness on all the ratings systems available for entertainment - something they have been doing annually since 2004.

Trade group the Entertainment Merchants Association has added three new companies as members today. Those companies include film company Lionsgate, Barnes & Noble's Nook Media, and hoopla digital.

A national press tour for the Fourth Edition of Joel D. Joseph's book chronicling (what he believes) are the worst decisions made by the United States Supreme Court in recent years is about to get underway. The book was published by Imprint Books in December of last year and was recently updated with new material.

Joe Ambeault, CEO of Redbox Instant by Verizon has joined the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) Board of Directors, the trade group announced today. The EMA represents the interests of the entertainment industry including streaming services, companies that provide support for the film and movie industries, and video game companies that do business at traditional retail and online.

The Entertainment Merchant's Association has added four new firms to its organization as members. The companies are CaptionMax, Group 1200 Media, Sony DADC New Media Solutions, and Phase 4 Films. The EMA is a trade group representing the entertainment industry and retail, focusing on issues that affect both like taxes, censorship, and more.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) announced this morning that it has added three more members into its Association: 3Play Media, Mediamorph, and The Peter Rodgers Organization (also known as PROFilms).

Four new companies have become members of trade group the Entertainment Merchant Association (EMA) this week. Those companies include 3rd i QC, Deluxe, Dolby, and FilmTrack.

This week the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) presented Amazon, Netflix, and the online campaign for the video game “Injustice: Gods Among Us” with its Digi Awards for outstanding achievement in digital entertainment content, innovation, and retailing. The EMA also recognized Morgan Spurlock with its Visionary Award. The awards were presented at EMA’s Digital Media Pipeline, held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles this week.

California Governor Jerry Brown (D) is a strange bird sometimes. He, representing the state's view as Attorney General, put his name on a lawsuit (Brown v. EMA) defending a 2005 law written by State Senator Leland Yee that sought to prohibit minors from buying Mature rated games. That case went to the Supreme Court and was eventually struck down as unconstitutional. The state ultimately was forced to pay the legal fees of the Entertainment Software Association - the trade group representing the video games industry in the United States - in 2011.

Morgan Spurlock, best known as the creator of the documentary "Super Size Me," will keynote the Entertainment Merchants Association’s (EMA) fifth annual Digital Media Pipeline, on Sept. 24 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Digital Media Pipeline is a one-day business-to-business conference for digital retailers and distributors, content producers, content aggregators, service providers, and digital technology companies. This year's event marks the first time that digital video game distribution and retailing will be included.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is holding its annual Los Angeles Entertainment Summit event this week (July 23-24) in Los Angeles. The event brought together nearly 1,000 people from dozens of entertainment companies for two days of business meetings, tech displays, and seminars focused on the state of the entertainment industry.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) has added two new members to its association: Dune HD and Giant Interactive.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) today presented Independent Home Entertainment Awards to four video titles for being the best in their respective categories. The awards were given out during EMA’s 2013 Independent Product Market at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Marina del Rey, California.

Retailers are embracing digital delivery as consumers migrate their existing disc collections into the digital world, but a new report by the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) shows that Blu-Ray consumption is on the rise. There was a .25% increase in consumer spending on home entertainment in 2012, the first time in seven years there hasn’t been a decrease, EMA noted at the annual Independent Product Market event.

William Shatner has been honored with a Video Legend Award by the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) in recognition of his extraordinary career and the popularity of his work on home video, the EMA announced today. The award was presented by EMA during its 2013 Independent Product Market at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Marina del Rey, California.

The Entertainment Merchants Association Scholarship Foundation has announced the two individuals that will receive academic scholarships of $1,500 per year for up to four years. This year’s recipients are Haadjer Benmerzouga and Emily Sargent. Haadjer Benmerzouga is a pharmacy technician for Giant Eagle graduating from Cleveland State this year with a 3.8 GPA. Benmerzouga has been accepted into Northeast Ohio Medical University to study pharmacy science.

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.