Last week, <A HREF="http://www.image-entertainment.com">Image Entertainment</A> signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Eagle Rock Entertainment that paves the way for 28 music titles to be released on DVD in the coming months. According to Martin Greenwald of Image, "Music DVD is a relatively untapped genre in comparison to the number of motion pictures being released on DVD. Image has recognized a real opportunity and taken the lead in this category of DVD programming. To date, Image has released dozens of music-related DVDs, and we will continue to aggressively explore other licensing opportunities for all types of music programming: pop, rock, jazz, and classical."

Industry leaders met in Virginia last week to discuss convergence trends in the consumer-electronics, telecommunications, and computing industries, and how these trends are affecting manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. The Convergence Forum, hosted by the <A HREF="http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A>'s Communication and Information Technology (CIT) and Integrated Home Systems (IHS) divisions, took place at the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) Spring Conference.

A red laser&ndash;based Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) format system developed by Toshiba and NEC has been chosen by the DVD Forum as the standard for next-generation high-definition DVD players. The DVD Forum will develop AOD specs and publish them in the spring, according to the Nikkei news service. NEC said it would release AOD drives for PCs next year. Toshiba plans to market AOD home recorders in 2004.

<I>Passion</I> piracy? Hollywood duplication facility Lightning Media is on the receiving end of a lawsuit by Mel Gibson's Icon Distribution Inc., alleging copyright violations over illegal copies made of <I>The Passion of the Christ</I>, Gibson's controversial new film now in theatrical release. <I>Passion</I> pulled in over $125 million in ticket sales in its first week.