Arik Hesseldahl

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FilmTrack, Rights Management in the Cloud, Lands $20 Million From Insight

iStockphoto | dny59

You can add this to the growing list of specialized software that now runs in the cloud: Tracking the usage rights for film and television companies.

The company that does it is FilmTrack, and today it announced that it has secured a $20 million investment from the private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.

FilmTrack’s cloud application is used by film and TV studios to track the use of their video troves in order to make sure they’re getting paid when someone shows a movie or licenses some part of it. FilmTrack’s customers include the Weinstein Company, Lionsgate and the cable network Starz.

As part of the deal, Peter Sobiloff and Nikitas Koutoupes, both managing directors at Insight, will join FilmTrack’s board of directors. Also joining is Michael Lang, the former CEO of Miramax Films.

It’s the 15th investment in a software-as-a-service company by Insight Venture Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm based in New York. Last month, it invested $100 million in Anaqua, a cloud software firm specializing in the management of intellectual property including patents, trademarks and trade secrets.

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus