Author: ArtsJournal2

Can Copyright Catch Up To The Coronavirus Boom In Digital Culture?

From just about everything on TikTok to Broadway performers singing Sondheim on YouTube, there’s a lot of culture on the internet right now – and very few of the creators of that culture are getting their cut. “Streaming images, video, music and books turn every interaction and event into a performance, display or broadcast of intellectual property. And the law requires licenses for such streaming to protect the content of the creators.” – Los Angeles Times

The Rolling Stones May Have Finally Hit On A Way To Stop The President From Using Their Song At His Rallies

They’ve been trying for years to bar Trump from using “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” as his walk-off music at rallies – and their efforts have always been in vain. Until now, perhaps. “The group sent out a statement saying it is enlisting BMI, the performing rights organization that oversees public use of the song, in their quest to keep the track from being used for politically partisan purposes. And the band says there’ll be a lawsuit if the president continues using the song without a license.” – Variety

Saying Goodbye To TV’s Fantasy Worlds

The world of Law & Order was so attractive, the righteousness of its heroes so, well, right. Then college happened, and a lot of getting pulled over. “Too often, cop-centered stories portray its stars as heroes and ignore the broader failures that leave black people on the receiving end of police bias. And while it would seem easy to take predominantly white police stories and diversify them with black actors—a plug-and-play approach to representation—that method becomes a double-edged sword when fictional black police bolster a status quo narrative.” – The Atlantic

Reconsidering America’s Addiction To Police Dramas

TV execs hold a roundtable to discuss (tiny) ways some things might change, including centering stories written by and about African Americans. “You have to be very front and center about this and tie it to yearly goals and objectives. …So I find that when you’re talking about the goals of the team in terms of ratings and what success looks like in the organization, a conversation also needs to be tied around what the stories are that we’re telling.” – Variety

Bands Whose Names Refer To Slavery Are Changing Their Names, And Sometimes More

The band names are a symbol – just a symbol, perhaps, but a strong one. However: “The question is not, “‘hould bands whose names have ties to slavery change them?’ The question is: Are we committed to looking our awful history in the eyes, admitting that it led us to a place in which Black people in America are still systematically mistreated, and doing everything we can to fix that?” – Vice

Fringe Theatres And Pubs Are The Lifeblood Of British Theatre, And The Virus Is Killing It All

Without the small stages, emerging voices in British theatre don’t have much of a chance. One playwright: “Uncertainty is dreadfully demotivating. I intended to use the lockdown to write a new play that’s been nagging at me, but I’ve hardly written a word. For the first time in a decade and a half, I cannot see much prospect of getting it performed.” – The Guardian (UK)