Accept That Art Hoard And You’ll Be Sued Into Oblivion, World Jewish Congress Tells Swiss Museum

When the reclusive Cornelius Gurlitt died in May, he left his 1,200-piece collection – much of which is suspected of having been looted by the Nazis and fenced by Gurlitt’s art-dealer father – to the Kunstmuseum Bern. Now WJC president Ronald Lauder has warned that if the museum accepts, “it will open a Pandora’s box and unleash an avalanche of lawsuits.”

Sherlock Holmes Is Absolutely, Positively In The Public Domain, Says U.S. Supreme Court

The justices rejected an appeal by Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate, “which claimed that authors who wanted to publish stories about Holmes needed to pay the estate a licensing fee. This leaves intact a June decision by 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, which held that most of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories are no longer protected by copyright.”

What Will Amazon Look Like When It Grows Up (And Finally Turns A Profit)?

“Amazon operates like ‘a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers.’ … Flummox is the perfect word to describe what Amazon does to its competitors, its owners, and even its grateful consumers. Amazon can make us uncomfortable both because it refuses to play by the rules that other companies must follow, and because it seems too eager to be all things to all people.”

Recovered Memories, The Most Dangerous Idea In Mental Health

“The belief that hidden memories can be ‘recovered’ in therapy should have been exorcised years ago, when a rash of false memories dominated the airwaves, tore families apart, and put people on the stand for crimes they didn’t commit. But the mental health establishment does not always learn from its mistakes – and families are still paying the price.”

What Tuesday’s Midterm Elections Mean For The Nonprofit Arts

“Once again we may have to respond by organizing a vocal and vociferous campaign to minimally keep the Endowments alive and their funding at the current level. The chances of our succeeding in that effort are, if history is any example, fairly decent. Of course, the effort will take time and energy we could better put to other endeavors, but we may have no choice.”