“In a major development in the long-running case over Google’s unauthorized book-scanning,” US Federal Judge Denny Chin has ruled “that groups representing authors and photographers could go forward with a class action.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
World’s Top Stradivarius Dealer Arraigned On Multiple Fraud Charges
Dietmar Machold, 62, “whose company Machold Rare Violins had been in the family for five generations since it was founded in 1861, was charged with embezzlement, bankruptcy fraud and grand commercial fraud.” He’s alleged to have passed off as Strads two ordinary violins which he gave a German bank as security for a multi-million-euro loan.
Next In The Wave Of Ballet Documentaries, National Ballet Of Canada
Moze Mossanen’s Romeos and Juliets, an hour-long film to be broadcast on CBC, “follows the National Ballet of Canada as it prepared last fall for one of the biggest undertakings in its 60-year history, a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy of star-crossed lovers, choreographed by an acclaimed master of his craft, Russian-born Alexei Ratmansky.”
Remains Of Shakespeare’s First Theatre Unearthed
“Well preserved remains of Shakespeare’s original ‘wooden O’ stage, the Curtain theatre where Henry V and Romeo and Juliet were first performed, have been discovered in a yard in east London. The Curtain theatre in Shoreditch preceded the Globe on the Thames as Shakespeare’s first venue.”
Vancouver’s Film Industry Fears Losing Its Competitive Advantage
With the strong Canadian dollar and more attractive tax credits for foreign production in Ontario and Quebec, the film professionals in what used to be called “Hollywood North” are getting worried.
Washington’s National Symphony Announces 2013 European Tour
“When the NSO went to China in 2009, it was the orchestra’s first tour in seven years. Now, it appears that touring, as NSO Music Director Christoph Esch enbach promised, is becoming a matter of course. … Only eight months after its return from South America, the orchestra will go on another tour, of Europe, for 11 days in January and February.”
Amazon.com Buys A Publishing House
“Amazon has acquired Avalon Books, a small publisher that focuses on hardcover mystery, ‘wholesome’ romance and Westerns, and will make its titles available digitally for the first time. … Avalon Books have been geared and marketed primarily toward the library market; now Amazon will seek to market them to a wider audience.”
Canadian Feds Restore Funding They Yanked From Toronto Theatre Festival Last Year
“In a surprise move, the Harper government is restoring the funding it controversially pulled last year from the SummerWorks Theatre Festival after the Toronto event was criticized in 2010 by a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for scheduling a play that ‘glorifies terrorism’.”
Slate Makes Podcasts Pay Off, Even As Newspapers Give Up On Them
“Podcast downloads now top 1 million a month, Bowers said, almost double the numbers from 2010. Hundreds of people show up for live tapings of the podcasts and pay for tickets. And they’re apparently a big hit with advertisers, who pay higher rates to advertise in Slate podcasts than any other kind of content.”
The Israeli Singer Who’s Becoming An Underground Superstar In Iran
“Music-loving Iranians craving nostalgic Persian songs of a bygone era, or the upbeat dance music that is banned in their Islamic state, have new darling: Rita, the Israeli singing sensation.” Her Iranian fans “use tricky software to furtively download her songs online. Bootleg CD sellers in the back alley of Tehran’s old bazaar wrap her albums in unmarked packages and hush any inquiries when asked if they sell her music.”