The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : William Morris Agency Signs Software Deals

William Morris Agency said Tuesday that it has signed two deals to develop and distribute computer multimedia software on a pay-per-use and try-before-you-buy basis.

William Morris, one of Hollywood’s top talent agencies, struck a deal with Simon & Schuster, the publishing wing of Viacom Inc., and took an equity stake in Wave Interactive Network, an affiliate of Wave Systems Corp.

The move marks an advance by the agency, which until now has been slow to develop talent and content for computer multimedia and software products. “[Wave’s] content library will now include the very best of what Hollywood and Silicon Valley has to offer in terms of multimedia,” said Steven Sprague, Wave president.

He added that the William Morris stake in his company will make it easier to attract content and cement relationships.

Under the deals, William Morris will represent Wave, and its New Media Group will assist Wave in launching a CablePC channel for high-speed, low-cost software distribution.

Wave’s distribution technology allows users to sample software titles before a purchase, rent titles or pay for such incremental usage as “game,” “episode” or “chapter.”

Simon & Schuster has agreed to provide content from its library of 350,000 copyrights.

It may also contribute content created especially for Wave. Simon & Schuster plans to work with Wave to secure PC manufacturers’ support and to encourage retail support of the pay-per-use channel.

“[Wave’s] distribution model allows for large libraries of content to be delivered, for the first time, at a minimal cost,” said Steve Kram, chief operating officer on the West Coast for William Morris. “[That] means that consumers can access a broad range of multimedia titles much in the same way they access entertainment like home video.”