“Two writers are suing the publishers of The Da Vinci Code, the biggest-selling adult fiction book of all time, claiming it was copied from their 20-year-old book. They claim Dan Brown, the American author said to have earned $A350 million from the book that has sold 12 million, ‘lifted the whole architecture’ of research for their non-fiction Holy Blood, Holy Grail.” The earlier book actually makes an appearance in DaVinci, with one of the characters pulling a copy off a shelf and positing that its conclusions are sound.
Blog
Sony Abandons CD Locks
Sony, which pioneered a new copy-protected CD in 2002, is abandoning the technology, saying that the anti-piracy message being touted by the recording industry has sunk in sufficiently with consumers to make additional measures unnecessary. The statement appears to be somewhat at odds with the industry’s continued insistence that global music piracy is a serious threat to recording, and the decision to drop copy protection may have more to do with Sony’s expansion into the online music marketplace.
Cincy’s New Contract Has Serious Cuts
The Cincinnati Symphony has inked a new contract with its musicians, and the particulars are an ominous sign for musicians in a season in which most of the major American orchestras are negotiating. “It includes a two-year wage freeze, renegotiation of the orchestra’s health-care plan and a reduction through attrition in the number of full-time musicians from 99 to 92.”
Arts Thrive, But The Coverage Sucks
A new study of arts journalism by Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism Program finds that the arts are thriving in cities and towns across North America. But arts journalism is going in exactly the opposite direction, throttled by an increasingly profit-driven business model and the ever-shrinking ‘news hole.’ “Many art sections have become viewer guides, devoting the bulk of their efforts to calendars, the daily TV grid and tiny thumbnail reviews. At some dailies, criticism is vanishing.”
We’ll Just Call It A History-Based Display Module, Then
As part of Toronto’s ongoing downtown redevelopment, a new $200 million cultural center is being planned for the waterfront, and organizers hope that it will become the go-to place for Toronto’s history and heritage. But don’t you dare call it a museum – those are for stuffy people.
Leading From Within
The news stories about the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new artistic leadership model made copious use of the term “triumvirate.” But, says Andrew Druckenbrod, the PSO’s plan is far from the idea of a three-headed boss, and that’s a good thing, given the clashes of ego that could be involved in such an arrangement. “In truth, no one is succeeding Mariss Jansons as music director — not [Sir Andrew] Davis, not all three of the conductors. That’s the heart of the revolution of the PSO’s announcement: The changed relationship between an artistic leader and the orchestra that gives the musicians and staff more power in deciding the future of the group.”
Are de Boers Famous Fakes Actually Legit?
In 1992, a group of investors paid a modest sum for the Jelle de Boer art collection, which consisted of works the Dutch collector had judged to be lost creations of van Gogh, Matisse, and Renoir. The sale didn’t exactly set the art world ablaze, since de Boer’s stack of paintings had long since been judged to be fakes. But now, the current owners are asking experts to reexamine the collection, saying that they believe there may be a few authentic diamonds amidst the mass of imitations.
Hard To Believe Anyone Would Use Sex To Sell Books
“An unusually bitter dispute has broken out betweenthe family of Graham Greene and Norman Sherry, the man he entrusted to write the definitive account of his life. Relatives have been angered that Professor Sherry, whose third and final volume of Greene’s official biography will be published this week, dwells extensively on the writer’s sexual conquests at the expense of his literary career.” The family is likening Sherry to the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, while the author fires back that the objections are “bloody nonsense.”
Something Beautiful (Or Not)
Quick, give an example of the ideal of beauty in the 20th century. Did you name a Mondrian painting, or Marilyn Monroe? There’s a good chance it was the latter (or some other movie star,) but what will art historians centuries from now have to say on the subject? “Art is no longer interested in providing an image of natural beauty, nor does it aim to procure the pleasure ensuing from the contemplation of harmonious forms,” and that’s fine for the avant-garde, but the divergence of art from the concept of physical beauty does mean that it is difficult to predict which aesthetic tradition will have real staying power.
Dyson’s Crusade
The dispute between resigned Design Museum chairman James Dyson and the trustees bent on updating its mission had been running continuously for years, and contrary to the noise being made by both sides, it isn’t business: this argument is strictly personal. “The problem is not so much a question of whether the Design Museum exhibits engineering triumphs or Manolo Blahnik; it’s a battle between three exceptionally strong-minded people for the future of an institution that they all care about deeply: Dyson, Alice Rawsthorn, the director, and Terence Conran, who established the museum 20 years ago.”