“The FCC said Friday it would delay implementation of new rules governing children’s programming on digital television to consider an agreement struck by entertainment companies and children’s advocates. The rules, which were to have taken effect Jan. 1, would require that digital broadcasters bump up the amount of children’s programming they offer if they multicast, or subdivide their allotment of spectrum into multiple channels.” Protests and lawsuits from entertainment companies such as Disney and Viacom led to the decision to delay implementation.
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UK Anti-Piracy Efforts Not Working
The recording industry has been pulling out all the stops to try to put an end to illegal file-sharing and other forms of high-tech piracy. But according to a new study, all the lawsuits, threats, and interventions aren’t having much of an impact in the UK. 51% of iPod users in Great Britain continue to download music without paying for it, and fewer than 20% use legal pay-per-download services exclusively. “The survey… also highlighted a large degree of confusion among consumers about whether or not they were breaking copyright laws by using illegal sites. Only four in 10 said that they understood the law.”
Tax & Spend, Or Tax & Tax?
A proposed entertainment tax in Toronto has bar, restaurant, and theatre owners spitting nails over what they say is yet another assault by the Ontario government on industries that are only marginally profitable to begin with. Canadian businesses already pay hefty (by American standards) taxes on items such as tickets and hotel charges, in addition to sales taxes imposed by both provincial and city governments. Toronto’s city council says the purpose of the new tax would be to encourage cultural development, and it plans to set up special “tax-incentive zones” that would offer property tax breaks to cultural institutions.
FINDing A New Direction In Montreal
Montreal has a new dance festival to replace the collapsed Festival Internationale de Nouvelle Danse (FIND), and it will apparently have a theatrical component as well. Marie-Hélène Falcon, the artistic director of the new fest, is a big name in the Quebec theatre world. “[Her] winning proposal was determined by a rigorous open competition. The key to success was proposing an event that would satisfy the expectations of the dance community.” The CAN$1.8 million budget reserved for FIND will go to the new festival.
Cleveland Orch Gets $3 Million Boost
The Cleveland Orchestra has received a $3 million grant from a local foundation to help the ensemble get back on its financial feet after running $10.3 million in deficits over the last two seasons. “At its annual meeting on November 15, the board of the Musical Arts Association, the orchestra’s parent organization, adopted a plan for financial recovery that includes plans to widen its base of support beyond Cleveland and to cut costs.” The Kulas Foundation offered the grant as a show of support for the recovery plan.
The Art In The Midst Of The Wasteland
Six months ago, the New Orleans Museum of Art was on the verge of launching a $100 million capital campaign and planning a major expansion of its building. Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath, of course, changed everything, although the museum and its collection escaped largely unscathed. Six weeks after the storm, the museum was forced to lay off all but a skeleton staff. Now, the museum’s director finds himself attempting to sketch out a future in a city that may not have one of its own.
Leaner, Meaner, and More Tech-Savvy
As museums around the country struggle to make themselves relevant to a generation raised in front of computer screens and conversant with high-tech gadgetry, some institutions seem to be having more luck than others. In Pittsburgh, which like many mid-sized cities boasts one dominant museum and an array of smaller, more specifically targeted ones, it has been the less prominent museums which have made the most progress in integrating new technologies into their existing collections.
EU, UK Clash Over Art Sales Levy
A years-long dispute between the UK and the European Union over art sales and those who benefit from them is coming to a head this month, with the EU set to try and force Britain to accept the “artists’ retail rights levy” already in force on the continent. “Supporters of the levy… say that artists and their descendants should benefit from rising prices, while opponents argue that it will drive business away to nations that do not impose it, such as the United States and Switzerland.” UK officials say that they would be disproportionately hurt by the levy, since the country accounts for better than 50% of the European art market.
A Revolution In Full Color
Andre Derain painted 30 landscapes of London during two brief visits in 1906 and 1907. Inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings of the River Thames just below the Houses of Parliament, Derain’s works in fact changed the face of landscape painting, and caused a generation of artists to rethink their use of color. “By saturating his London views in colours so fierce it hurts to look at them, Derain was entering into unknown aesthetic territory – territory in which colour had become independent of the form it was used to construct, a pictorial element in the picture subject only to the painter’s expressive intentions.”
BBC Reverses Course on Newfangled Architecture
“When the BBC commissioned three landmark new buildings it was praised as a patron of cutting edge architecture. But now the architects of two of the projects have been dropped and the third may not even happen… The BBC has hardly been forthcoming about these expensive schemes – understandable, perhaps, considering the regular bashings it has had in recent years – but isn’t it fair to ask what, exactly, it has been doing with the vast sums of the public’s money earmarked for these buildings?”