“This is clearly a victory for everyone — not just Hollywood, but everyone who uses the Internet,” said Chris Keyser, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. “It is a critical moment in the ongoing fight for free expression and robust competition.”
Tag: 02.27.14
French Photographer JR Decides To Try His Hand At Ballet
“While JR has been hard at work creating the piece” – an eight-minute theatrical dance for New York City Ballet – “he’s also been relentlessly documenting its evolution via Instagram.” Of course.
Who Owns “Happy Birthday”? (And Why That’s A Problem)
“Happy Birthday” generates an estimated $2 million each year in licensing fees for Warner/Chappell, largely from television and movie producers, and it’s not currently set to lose copyright protection until 2030. Avoiding these fees is why restaurant chains like Red Robin and Joe’s Crab Shack serenade customers with their own unique birthday songs.
How Publishing Is Failing Science
“Peer review is failing to ensure the quality of published research, and new research fails to get into the hands of those who need it, ending up behind journal paywalls after a review process that can take more than year.”
How NBC Kept Fan Videos Of The Olympics Off The Internet
“NBC said it worked with Olympic officials to stop some 45,000 instances of illegally posted video or pirate streams that surfaced to show competition during the Sochi games.”
Why Is The Vienna Philharmonic So Slow To Change?
Sixteen years after the Philharmonic became one of the last big European orchestras to admit women, they are still an exotic sight onstage. Despite a blind audition policy, in which candidates are not visible when they play, the orchestra currently has just seven female members out of 130 total.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts Director Steps Down
“Museum of Fine Arts director Malcolm Rogers, whose 19-year tenure has been marked by massive growth and a slate of exhibitions both popular and controversial, announced Thursday night he will retire as soon as a successor is hired to run the region’s largest art museum.”
Well, They Won’t Be Shutting Down the Rome Opera Just Yet
“Threats of a strike at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, which would have prevented Thursday’s opening night performance of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and damaged the company’s account books, were averted at the last minute.” The theater’s finances are so bad that Rome’s Mayor has been saying that a strike could force the company to close its doors.
Why I’m Asking My Dancers to Improvise an Entire Evening Work
“In the first of our new guest blogs, Candoco Dance Company’s co-artistic director Pedro Machado explains why, in their new work, Notturnino, his company are making it up on the spot. How will it change the dancers’ relationship with the audience?”
The Most Unlikeable Hero in Children’s Literature
Laura Miller: “So she’s kind of creepy and something of a hypocrite. She may be the most unlikable hero in any children’s book, yet children, by the millions, insist on liking her. What’s [her] appeal?” (Miller includes in passing quite a pithy little takedown of Jonathan Franzen.)