Canadian government imposes a tax on recordable CDs and cassettes to “reimburse performers whose works are copied in homes for private use.” – CBC
Author: Douglas McLennan
THE EARLY NEW YORKER MAGAZINE
A precarious enterprise to be sure. “From the start, it lost two thousand dollars a week. It took three years and the outpouring of seven hundred thousand unrequited dollars to turn the red ink into black. Today, we are told, it may be bought by almost anybody with ten million dollars to spare.” – The Idler
BOOKS ON DEMAND
“For several years, publishers have watched the gradual improvement of technology known as print- on-demand, and it is finally starting to change their business. Xerox, I.B.M. and others now sell machines that in a matter of minutes can churn out single, bound copies of paperback or even hardcover books.” – New York Times
REASON FOR OPTIMISM
- NEA Chairman Bill Ivey outlined a “cultural bill of rights” in a speech Monday and said Americans have reason to believe the Bush administration will be supportive of the arts. “He cited increased spending on the arts under the Bush’s governorship in Texas as a cause for optimism [and] noted the increase in the NEA budget to $105 million for this year, the first since 1992, came as a result of a bipartisan effort in Congress.” – New Jersey Online (AP) 12/18/00
WHAT’S WRONG WITH BERLIN?
As the intrigue of Berlin’s cultural life winds on, several prominent artists who have approached to work in the city have declined. Why? “Berliners should be asking themselves what is wrong with their city.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 12/18/00
PROFITING BY IDEAS
As centers of research, universities have a wealth of knowledge to profit from. “But successfully exploiting them is another matter. With some notable exceptions, the businesses set up by universities to commercialise their intellectual property have lost millions in recent years.” – Sydney Morning Herald 12/18/00
CULTURAL POLICY NEEDS MORE THAN TALK
A new culture minister in New Zealand got everyone’s hopes up for some government attention as 2000 dawned. “Then there was a giddy anticipation from the cultural sector, which behaved like an ignored child showered with attention. As the year ends, the reality has sunk in that if politics exhibits any art it is the art of pragmatism.” – New Zealand Herald 12/18/00
KISSED TO DEATH
Oscar Wilde’s headstone in Paris is being destroyed – by kisses. “Marker-pen graffiti can be cleaned off and anything that is scratched into the tomb can be rubbed down with sandpaper, but lipstick contains animal fats which sink in to the stone and also leave horrible marks.” – Daily Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
16 WAYS TO CATCH A THIEF
A report prepared by the UK’s Illicit Trade Advisory Panel has recommended 16 measures to crack down on the rampant international smuggling of cultural art and antiquities. (Britain currently accounts for 30% of the global market in stolen artifacts.) Foremost among the recommendations is that Britain accede to the Unesco convention already signed by 91 other countries banning the international trade in stolen art and antiquities. – Financial Times
- A SIGNED TREATY MIGHT HELP: After 30 years of objections, the British government is now likely to sign the Unesco convention. “The worldwide trade is worth billions, and Interpol and other police agencies believe drug barons and other criminals are laundering profits through stolen antiquities.” – The Guardian
MISSING ART LIST
Right after World War II a list of claims for missing works of art by Old Masters and pioneers of modernism such as Degas, Renoir, Tintoretto and Tiepolo was made. But the list was “hidden away in government archives for half a century, frustrating efforts by a dying generation of Holocaust survivors and the art world to track down thousands of paintings and sculptures. Now a lack of funding and bureaucratic mishaps could again consign those documents to an obscure shelf in the National Archives.” – Chicago Tribune