“Congress approved the recopyrighting, limited to foreign works, to align U.S. policy with an international copyright treaty. But the Golan plaintiffs—a group that includes educators, performers, and film archivists—argue that bigger principles are at stake. Does Congress have the constitutional right to remove works from the public domain? And if it does, what’s stopping it from plucking out even more freely available works?”
Archives for June 2014
Jazz Bassist’s Bow Missing After Flight And TSA Search
“Now that it’s confirmed, I can tell you that good ol’ TSA confiscated (aka STOLE) my brand new bow right out of my hard case yesterday. I arrived in Saskatoon only to find the bow missing inside the case to my Lemur Travel Bass. Maybe they thought it was a weapon (idiotic), or they were looking for ivory, of which there wasn’t any. I will get to the bottom of this.”
Metropolitan Opera House Vandalized By Paint
“A vandal is wanted for spray painting obscenities on sculptures and paintings inside of the Metropolitan Opera house at Lincoln Center, cops said. It appears to be an inside job stemming from labor issues at the opera house, a police source said.”
Are The Distinctions Between Classical And Pop Music Becoming Meaningless?
Music, like much else, has become globalised, drawing from different times and places. As Bryce Dessner puts it, “You can’t really say, that’s a guy from a rock band who writes classical music. You should say the opposite: Jonny Greenwood was a classical violist who became a guitarist with Radiohead.”
US Supreme Court Did The TV Industry No Favors Squashing Aero
“If Aereo were around to make them move faster, it could be better for them — and their customers — in the long run. But they’ll be sticking with lucrative business as usual for now. Pretty sure we’ve seen this show before.”
Barnes and Noble To Split, Spinning Off Nook
“Barnes & Noble unveiled plans Wednesday to break apart into two companies, separating its retail unit from its struggling Nook Media business. The bookstore operator said it plans to complete the separation by the end of the first quarter of 2015.”
Is This App The ‘Guitar Hero’ Of Choreography? (Not Exactly …)
Passe-Partout “presents a new stage for dance that allows a user to overlay a series of one-minute pieces onto one another – there are eight solos or duets in total, though only five can be seen simultaneously – choreographed by Justin Peck for Mr. Ulbricht and himself. These layers allow for more than 40,000 permutations of dances. That’s a lot of bang for 99 cents.”
U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Aereo Is Illegal
“In a case with far-reaching implications for the entertainment and technology business, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Aereo, a television streaming service, had violated copyright laws by capturing broadcast signals on miniature antennas and delivering them to subscribers for a fee.”
Inside The USSR’s Secret Hoard Of Erotica
“It was the kinkiest secret in the Soviet Union: Across from the Kremlin, the country’s main library held a pornographic treasure trove. Founded by the Bolsheviks as a repository for aristocrats’ erotica, the collection eventually grew to house 12,000 items from around the world, ranging from 18th-century Japanese engravings to Nixon-era romance novels.”
John McClure, 84, Master Classical Record Producer
“He made strong-selling recordings of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; worked with Dave Brubeck, Joe Williams and other jazz artists; recorded Peter, Paul and Mary; and helped engineer the string parts for Pink Floyd’s … The Wall. But he made his biggest mark in the classical world, … [where] helped shape some of the most celebrated classical recordings of the 20th century, including acclaimed sessions with Bruno Walter, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein.”
The Problem At The Heart Of ‘The Death Of Klinghoffer’
Alex Ross suggests that the opera’s ongoing role as a controversy magnet is rooted in “its pensive, ambivalent attitude toward present-day issues about which a great many people feel no ambivalence whatsoever.”
Deborah Rutter On Her Years Running The Chicago Symphony
“It is really important that we understand who our audiences are, and how they are going to participate in the music-making. We have to stay current (with respect to) programming, our use of electronic media, the experience of being in the concert hall, also the experience of hearing music outside the concert hall. My effort (has been) to sustain and nurture this institution and figure out how to make it more meaningful (to more people).” (includes video)
How ‘Frozen’, Of All Movies, Conquered The World
Who’d have predicted that a cartoon about a pair of princesses would become the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time – and win a slew of awards, too? Maria Konnikova and some research psychologists look at what makes Disney’s latest hit so beloved far beyond its expected demographic.
T.S. Eliot And Groucho Marx’s Touchy Friendship
With a 1961 fan letter, the WASP mandarin poet began a famous three-year correspondence with the wisecracking Jewish comedian. Re-reading the letters while researching a book, Lee Siegel found some significant and complicated tensions beneath the mutual admiration.
She’s Everyone’s – Heck, Every Genre’s – Favorite Set Designer
Es Devlin “works with some of the highest names in high culture – Philip Glass, Russell Maliphant, Richard Wagner – and the massiest in mass culture – Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga. She goes from twerk to Gesamtkunstwerk, and all tackled with the same keen rigour. She is, surely, the only person ever to have given the members of Take That a presentation on Belgian surrealism.”
‘Artwashing’, Gentrification And Real Estate Development
The formerly run-down Balfron Tower public housing project in East London, where artists are being given temporary leases as the complex is being converted to higher-end apartments, is the latest high-profile example of a process that “presents regeneration not through its long-term effects – the transfer of residency from poor to rich – but as a much shorter journey from neglect to creativity.”
George Lucas’s Museum Will Be In Chicago
The choice of Chicago over San Francisco and Los Angeles for the institution – to be called the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – “reflects both a bungling of the billionaire’s legacy project by the board of a national park in San Francisco as well as an aggressive lobbying effort by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
Why Cities Should Be More Skeptical Of New Cultural Centers And Expansions
“A new book of research reveals that civic leaders and arts patrons tend to fall prey to specific planning fallacies when it comes to building new museums, performing-arts centers, and cultural expansions.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.25.14
Working for Free, Pro and Con
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-06-25
Seizure: Federal Prosecutors Issue Forfeiture Action
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-06-26
Frames of Reference
AJBlog: Engaging Matters | Published 2014-06-25
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Report: Movie Theatre Simulcasts Of Stage Performances Don’t Cannibalize Ticket Sales
“Theatres in England have experienced no decrease in attendances from audience members living near cinemas that screen NT Live shows since NT Live was launched in 2009, data from research charity Nesta and consultancy organisation the Audience Agency has shown.”
Needed: A New, Expanded Role For Museums
“The time has come for museums to become active participants and problem solvers in the current Age of Disruption. The problems and uncertainties are unprecedented, yet the possibilities and opportunities for change and renewal have never been greater.”
A Dramatic Rethink Of The Design For A New LA County Museum Of Art
The new design is meant to address concerns that the original plan would encroach on, and potentially damage, the La Brea Tar Pits at the neighboring Page Museum, casting a shadow over the largest pit.
Milestone: More TV Pilots Shot IN New York Than In LA
“Among 203 pilots produced in the 12 months ended in May, only 44% (90 pilots) were filmed in the L.A. region, down from 52% the previous year and 82% from the 2006-2007 pilot season. The rest mainly filmed in New York, Vancouver, Atlanta, and Toronto, concludes a study released Tuesday by FilmL.A. Inc.”
When A Chicago Festival Failed To Pay Its Musicians, They Didn’t Complain. Why?
“Why were the wronged musicians and their friends still so quiet? And, come to think of it, why did we maintain silence for nine months as we awaited sums of money that, to us, make or break our ability to pay the rent? For me, the story of the Beethoven Festival is a story of vulnerability: my own individual vulnerability, that of my colleagues, and that of our entire musical community.”
Claim: Canada’s CBC Is Being “Dismantled”
“Sources say a radically downsized CBC means that nothing is off the table, from the cancellation of some local newscasts to the phasing out of live music recordings on CBC radio to gutting the sports department.”