Google has wandered into a mess of copyright traps with its attempts to make books searchable. “The legal action comes as yet another setback to Google’s goal of serving as a clearinghouse of a wide range of global information, legal scholars say. In addition to its publishing woes, Google has also drawn the ire of TV networks for its Google Video, which records and stores TV programs.”
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Scottish Parliament Rejects Culture Commission Recommendations
The Scottish Parliament has killed a report’s recommendations to dramatically increase funding for the arts. “The report won initial support in the arts community for its call for a massive increase in spending of up to £100 million, to cover a ‘deficit’ in Scottish arts and take it to a 1 per cent share of the Scottish Executive’s budget. Scotland’s culture minister said a new arts bureaucracy was a non-starter. She did not rule out a “radical overhaul” in the arts, but spoke out against “unnecessary bureaucracies, which are a drain on resources”. She continued: “I’m not convinced that the solution preferred by the commission is the right one.”
Movie Directors Move To TV
Movie directors used to shun TV as a lesser art form. But many are now taking on projects for the small screen. “In what has become an annual rite of migration over the last few years, feature filmmakers flock to a once-scorned realm to direct (and often executive produce) TV series. This fall, the transfusion of feature film talent continues unabated with a new crop of drama pilots shaped by movie directors.”
US Considers Chinese Art Import Ban
The US is considering a request by the Chinese government o restrict imports of Chinese art. “The Chinese asked for the embargo in an effort reclaim stolen good and to stem looting and illicit export of archaeological material by reducing the market demand overseas. The request was made under the 1970 Unesco Convention regarding cultural property.”
Scalia: Government Has Right To Deny Arts Funding
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says the government has the right to deny funding for art of which it disapproves. “The First Amendment has not repealed the basic rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune. When you place the government in charge of funding art, just as when you place the government in charge of providing education, somebody has to pick the content of what art is going to be funded, what subjects are going to be taught. The only way to eliminate any government choice on what art is worthwhile, what art isn’t worthwhile, is to get the government totally out of the business of funding.”
In Minneapolis: A New Ten-Year Plan For Arts
“Mayor R.T. Rybak says under the guidance of the new plan, the city will develop cultural leaders, double funding for public art, and promote Minneapolis arts and culture both locally and nationally. He says a key aspect of the plan is to support those small and mid-sized arts organizations that don’t have a large staff or wealthy boards. But this is the same mayor who drastically cut back his Office of Cultural Affairs four years ago in an effort to dig the city out of some major debt.”
Disney Does Stage Tarzan
“Last week, in front of hundreds of group-sales executives, Disney unveiled plans for a $10 million (at least) stage version of its animated movie “Tarzan” that will open at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in May. Usually at these events, the sales people are treated to a few musical numbers, and, if you sneak into the theater, you can get a pretty good idea of whether the show’s going to be a stinker or a hit. But “Tarzan” isn’t even in rehearsal yet, so Tom Schumacher, the popular head of Disney’s theater division, hosted what amounted to an informal chat show that might have been called Tom and Friends.”
A Look At Billy Forsythe’s New Company
William Forsythe’s new company looks a lot like his old Ballett Frankfurt. “At first, watching Forsythe’s 18 dancers, it is not particularly evident what has changed. They are still based, like the old company, in the studios of Frankfurt’s Opernhaus, and as they wait to begin work, swigging water and easing soreness out of their muscles, they look like any bunch of dancers, anywhere in the world. Slowly, however, it becomes evident that this new ensemble possesses a very singular dynamic.”
An End To Publc Access TV?
Is community asccess TV in America endangered? “Congress is looking at legislation which, while opening cable to competition and greater options, may erode the main revenue stream for CCTV and many of its sibling stations across the country.”
The Clairvoyant Kushner
Tony Kushner has a knack for being ready with a play that fits the time. “Six years ago, he began writing a play about a remote Central Asian nation; by the time Homebody/Kabul opened in December 2001, the United States was fighting a war there. Now, amid the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, his 2003 musical Caroline, or Change seems even more eerily prescient. ‘There ain’t no under ground in Louisiana,’ run its newly harrowing opening lines. ‘There is only under water’.”