Is there such a thing as “the culture?” “In some ways our thinking about nature on the one hand and ‘the culture’ on the other has undergone a reversal within a matter of decades. It used to be that the cultural aspect of ordinary reality was, by definition, the part most amenable to human transformation, whereas the natural aspect was seen as having a dynamic of its own, which was largely out of our hands. ‘The culture’ is today the more fearsome realm, or at any rate the more convenient scapegoat, and the notion that we have only limited influence over it appears to be widespread.” – The Atlantic 11/00
Category: issues
MUSIC TO THE STUDIO EXECS’ EARS
After reviewing Hollywood’s marketing and advertising practices, the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to Congress stressing the Constitution’s protection of the entertainment industry and urging voluntary self-regulation by the studios, rather than federally enforced sanctions. “The letter elicited a collective I-told-you-so (and probably a sigh of relief) from Tinseltown types. “We always believed that both the content and the marketing of movies were protected under the First Amendment.” – E! Online 11/22/00
REASONABLE PROTECTIONS
“Citing ‘significant legal limitations’ and ‘substantial and unsettled constitutional questions,’ FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky concluded that the agency would face considerable difficulties bringing cases against Hollywood under existing federal trade laws.” – Los Angeles Times 11/22/00
IF THE SELLER PROFITS FROM OUR WORK, SO SHOULD WE
Australian artists want a percentage of the sales price when their work is sold at auction. To reinforce the “request” they’ve announced a 12 month moratorium on allowing images of their work to be reproduced in auction catalogues unless the auction house pays a five percent copyright fee. – The Age (Melbourne) 11/22/00
NEW ARTS COMPLEX FOR DALLAS
Dallas unveils plans to build a $250 million performing arts center downtown. “The latest plan calls for a 2000-seat lyric theater for the Dallas Opera and other musical groups, and an 800-seat theater to replace the temporary Dallas Theater Center stage on Flora Street.” – Dallas Morning News 11/22/00
FESTIVAL FEUD
What started out as a dispute over rent for Laguna Beach’s famed Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters show has escalated to a threat to move the festival and a campaign by the artists to remove the festival’s board. “Artists are usually more accepting of change. This came as a surprise to me that this particular group of artists doesn’t have the willingness to look at the possibilities.” – CNN 11/20/00
AN “INFORMATION MAP OF THE WORLD”
New online encyclopedias turn to users as contributors, hoping to create real-time maps of all of current human knowledge. One site has 60,000 contributors from 90 countries. “These sites appear at a time in the Internet’s history when its utopian ideals linger as tenuously as the fun money investors doled out over the past two years.” – The Standard 11/20/00
WHO OWNS IMAGES?
Some San Francisco muralists are suing Bill Gates’ giant photo image company Corbis because Corbis is selling photos of murals in the Bay Area. The images include copyright notices but the owner is listed as the photographer and not the muralist. – Law.com 11/20/00
IT’D BE DIFFERENT IF IT WAS GREAT ARCHITECTURE
It will cost $1.5 billion to repair New York’s crumbling Lincoln Center. So instead, why not just tear it down and start over? “It’s time to start thinking hard about tearing down Lincoln Center and building up a new, much better one—an architectural masterpiece that will signal New York City’s miraculous recovery over the last decade and its renewed confidence that it will be the capital of the twenty-first century as it has been of the twentieth.” – City Journal 11/00
MAINTAINING A GOOD IDEA
Five years ago Britain set up the lottery-supported Heritage Fund, setting forth £1.5 billion in spending on arts and cultural projects. “Who could have imagined in 1990 that so many longstanding conservation problems would be resolved or that such bold initiatives would have found funding? Without it, the world would have been a much duller place. Yet, just as the achievements of the fund are becoming clear, so are the dangers that surround it.” – The Telegraph (UK) 11/19/00