Chief content officer Bela Bajaria: “I think it’s really a bummer for the 100 incredibly talented people who made an amazing movie. … And if you look at the nominations, and all of this awards love that it’s received, I think it’s such a bummer that it distracted from that.” - The Guardian (UK)
Author Louise Penny of the Inspector Gamache series: “I was supposed to launch The Black Wolf at the Kennedy Center in DC, but in the wake of Trump taking over, I have pulled out. … It was, of course, going to be a career highlight. But there are things far more important than that.” - CBC
Even a president as attuned to the details of Kennedy Center programming as Nixon didn’t try to directly take a hand in running the place. As in so many other instances in the last month, it’s remarkable how little opposition Trump has encountered in setting out to do whatever he wants. - Van
In 2020, Thomson Reuters sued Ross Intelligence for copyright infringement, alleging that Ross had scraped Thomson Reuters’ own law database, known as Westlaw, to create its database, and that this amounted to copyright infringement. - Music Business Worldwide
"Several Kennedy Center staffers … described a week of chaos, fear and confusion under the new leadership. Trump’s comments 'collapsed all the nuance of what we do,' said one staffer, who described the work as more than a job or a passion. … 'I don’t feel safe.'" - The Washington Post (MSN)
On Tuesday, (a) US District Court … issued a partial summary judgment in favor of Thomson Reuters in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup. Filed in 2020, it’s one of the first cases (to) deal with the legality of AI tools and how they are trained." - The Verge
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $32 million line-item vetoes stripped away funding for local theater groups, arts festivals, museums and more, sparking outrage in Florida last year. Now, a House work group is one of several convening to review line-item vetoes from the 2024-25 budget DeSantis signed last year. - Florida Politics
The new N.E.A. rules require applicants to agree not to operate diversity programs “that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws” and call on grant applicants to pledge not to use federal funds to “promote gender ideology.”
In the complaint, Thomson Reuters claimed the AI firm reproduced materials from its legal research firm Westlaw. Today, a judge ruled in Thomson Reuters’ favor, finding that the company’s copyright was indeed infringed by Ross Intelligence’s actions. - Wired
"The City Council voted 8-2 on Monday to become part of a new governance system for distributing millions in arts grants that will also include Mecklenburg County, the Foundation for the Carolinas and the group formerly known as the Arts and Science Council." - The Charlotte Observer
The Kennedy Center board of trustees voted Wednesday afternoon to install President Donald Trump as chairman of the board, cementing the plan Trump announced Friday to overhaul the storied arts institution with him at its helm. It also voted to terminate Deborah Rutter as president. - Washington Post (MSN)
In practical terms, this means that every $1 million grant given to a school could have been transformed, at the stroke of midnight, into one that’s worth about $700,000. Imagine if your income, or the revenue for your business, was cut by nearly 30 percent, all at once. - The Atlantic
Every arts organization has been touched by the flames in one way or another. Administrators are now assessing what the future looks like, as well as how audiences and, crucially, donors will respond. - San Francisco Classical Voice
The NEA says applicants for all grants must follow "all applicable executive orders" from the White House. The guidelines state that applicants "will not operate any programs promoting" DEI or use federal funds "to promote gender ideology." - NPR
