After a visitor died of anaphylactic shock from being fed allergens (the servers had been warned) at a Disney World restaurant, Disney attorneys tried to dismiss her widower's lawsuit because, they argued, he agreed to private arbitration when signing up for Disney+ and again when purchasing theme park tickets. - New York Magazine (MSN)
Disney and Universal are engaging in one-upmanship as their theme parks bring in more revenue than their sputtering entertainment divisions. (This is despite the fact that visitor numbers have started to fall.) Yet the studios' rivalry in the live-attractions business goes back decades. - TheWrap
"Those pining for a cultured culture minister should be careful what they wish for – especially when looking romantically to counterparts in Europe who take a ‘personal’ interest in their brief. … We need political steel, an understanding of the technical and administrative problems we face and belief in what we do." - Classical Music (UK)
For anyone hoping to understand the complicated contours of overtourism in Barcelona, the Carmel Bunkers is a good place to start. - The New York Times
After a century of ignoring the very arteries that allowed them to grow in the first place, cities are learning to love their rivers again. - The Guardian
Generative AI has “pretty much ruined the integrity of online classes,” which are increasingly common as schools such as ASU attempt to scale up access. No matter how small the assignments, many students will complete them using ChatGPT. - The Atlantic
The court will now allow artists to proceed with discovery on claims that AI image generators relying on Stable Diffusion violate both the Copyright Act and the Lanham Act, which protects artists from commercial misuse of their names and unique styles. - ArsTechnica
“When it comes to these more serious cases, which may involve workplace harm or abuse, it’s concerning to think that a confidentiality clause within someone’s contract could affect their ability to speak up about their experiences.” - ArtsHub
The mural, in which a vandal spray-painted pink skin onto a Black athlete, “featured Egonu, who spearheaded Italian women’s volleyball’s first-ever gold medal win at the Paris Olympics, as she jumps to hit a ball with the words ‘stop racism.’” - The Guardian (UK)
"One by one, Metro Arts' Communications Manager Daryn Jackson, Public Art Manager Jessica Ingram, and Finance and Operations Director Christiana Afotey announced their resignations. The commissioners barely reacted. … That leaves the department without key staff members at a moment when the future of its grant programs is up in the air." - WPLN (Nashville)
"The crowds (marching in Bratislava) claimed that the dismissals (of the directors of the National Gallery and National Theatre) are a political purge by Robert Fico’s populist left-wing Smer-SSD party, which won parliamentary elections in Slovakia in October and formed a coalition government with the center-left Hlas and nationalist SNS parties." - ARTnews
"For more than a decade, tickets to Burning Man have sold out almost immediately – sometimes in a matter of minutes. But this year, less than two weeks before the festival kicks off, tickets are still available – raising questions about the future of the annual desert revelry." - The Guardian
“A federal investigation was launched after scorch marks were discovered by a member of the museum’s renovation team outside the front entrance of the museum. The museum is located between two historic synagogues on Baltimore’s Lloyd Street.” - ARTnews
At a major fan gathering last week, executives teased a soon-to-come Monsters, Inc. attraction. Sharp-eyed observers spotted that the location shown in the promotional video is exactly where Muppet*Vision 3D is now, something that Disney execs obviously hoped nobody would notice. Muppet fans are furious. - TheWrap
