Disney has won its case against a small firm that claimed rights and royalties from the Winnie the Pooh franchise. The judge chided the plaintif for its “willingness to tamper with, and even corrupt, the litigation process constitutes a substantial threat to the integrity of the judicial process. Disney officials had earlier claimed the confidential documents were stolen on behalf of SSI by a private investigator in the early 1990s.”
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Judge Allows “Passion” To Be Shown In France
A French judge has declined to ban the showing of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in France. Opponents of showing the film argued that the movie would incite anti-Semitism. “However Judge Florence Lagemi ruled on Monday that the film, due to be released in France on Wednesday, was not a threat to public order.”
Remembering Peter Ustinov
“He wrote 23 plays, 13 books, nine films and numerous memoirs, acted in 40 films and 20 plays, and directed eight films, eight plays and 14 operas. He spoke five languages. His entry in Who’s Who was seven inches long. According to Michael Parkinson, Sir Peter was ‘God’s gift to a talk show host’.”
Radical Architecture Collective Grows Into Its Time
The British radical architecture collective Archigram found little success back in the 1960s, and it wasn’t until decades later that theyy were appreciated. “Perhaps the fascinating thing about Archigram is what seems to be an instinctive recognition that if those involved truly wanted to be radical, they needed to steer clear of actual building. So architects became writers and artists. Ideas were developed and then allowed to work their way into the intellectual consciousness.”
The Textbook Copy Problem
Textbook piracy is rampant in much of the world, particularly in countries with expanding economies such as China. Governments aren’t exactly eager to crack down on pirates. “Countries say to us: ‘We really want education for our kids. You people [in the United States] are rich. Why do you want to stop us from copying textbooks?'”
Aiming At Affordable Art (And Those Who Might Buy)
There’s a new breed of art fair, and it’s doing quite well. The fairs offer “affordable art” aimed at the entry-level buyer. “Some buy for investment, calculating that as interest rates are low and the stock market is fluctuating then art should be a good long term home for spare cash. A survey this week revealed that 24 per cent of adults would consider buying art for this reason. But dealers and fair organisers say that most buy because they feel more confident than ever about doing so and because they want to spend disposable income on something for their home.”
A Better Barbican?
Musicians have complained about the acoustics in London’s Barbican Theatre for years. “But a £7m refurbishment to improve the deadening acoustics has proved so successful that more of the best musicians in the world are now happy to appear, it was claimed yesterday. Twenty years after its first – and only – distressing performance at the Barbican, the Vienna Philharmonic returns next month.”
Falling Flat On Boston’s Strand
In 2002, promises and hopes sailed high for Boston’s Strand Theatre, a converted vaudeville house being rebirthed as a community performing arts center. “Less than two years later, the Strand’s books are soaked in red ink. The Strand’s 1,400-seat auditorium is dark on most evenings, and it droops with inactivity during the daytime. Paint is peeling, chairs are broken, and a city maintenance crew recently replaced 150 dead light bulbs that had been left in their sockets.”
Peter Ustinov, 82
Actor Peter Ustinov has died of heart failure in Switzerland. Ustinov, who spoke more than half a dozen languages, won Oscars for his roles in the films “Spartacus” and “Topkapi.” The multi-talented entertainer, who was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth but did not like to be known as “Sir Peter,” completed his last film as an actor, about the life of 16th century German protestant leader Martin Luther, late last year.”
No Book Left Behind
A new installment of the “Left Behind” series is due out this week. “Over the last nine years, the ‘Left Behind’ series, which is based on Dr. Tim LaHaye’s literal, bloody interpretation of the Book of Revelation, has become one of the biggest surprise hits in American popular culture. The first 11 novels have sold more than 40 million copies. The authors have unseated John Grisham as the best-selling novelists for adults and, in some places where evangelical Christians are common, the books rival the Harry Potter series in sales.”