“The new Frank Gehry-designed Art Gallery of Ontario, designed as an impregnable fortress against the harsh Canadian weather, is already showing cracks in its armour. Recent visitors to the newly reopened and much celebrated Toronto gallery have been shocked to find condensation fogging up and streaming down many of its outer windows, while buckets dot its famed Douglas fir central staircase, catching errant drips.”
Tag: 03.04.09
Searching For Authors, Google Embarks On Print Campaign
“As part of the class-action settlement” of a federal lawsuit over book scanning, “Google will pay $125 million to create a system under which customers will be charged for reading a copyrighted book, with the copyright holder and Google both taking percentages; copyright holders will also receive a flat fee for the initial scanning, and can opt out of the whole system if they wish. But first they must be found.” Thus Google’s $7 million advertising effort “in that relic of the pre-Internet age: print.”
Why Green Rooms Are ‘Green’ — Even Though They Aren’t
Here’s one of a half dozen possibilities: “Green is considered a soothing color, advantageous for someone about to go onstage or to someone who has just performed.”
For Publisher Of Holocaust Novel, Its Value Is Controversy
“Jonathan Littell’s nearly 1,000-page Holocaust novel, ‘The Kindly Ones,’ went on sale Tuesday, but critics already have drawn fiercely partisan battle lines.” HarperCollins is sure to welcome the dust-up after having paid $1 million for the American rights to the book, which has “what publishers are increasingly searching for these days: controversy, splashiness, something for readers to get worked up about,” no matter “the quality of the prose or story therein.”
Amazon Enters Apple Territory With E-Books
“Amazon.com Inc. plans to release a program Wednesday for reading electronic books on Apple Inc.’s iPhone, extending Amazon’s sales of digital books to devices beyond its Kindle e-book reader. Amazon’s software application, which can be downloaded free of charge, allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to read books or periodicals purchased on the Web or through their dedicated Kindle device, usually for $9.99.”
France Tainted Itself By Allowing Auction, China Says
“China said France has tarnished its own ‘good tradition’ by permitting the sale of two Qing Dynasty bronzes that were taken by foreign troops in 1860. ‘The auction will not add anything positive to the good tradition of the country in which it was hosted,’ said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman of China’s legislature and ex-foreign minister, at a Beijing press conference, ahead of the annual meeting of lawmakers.”
As Deep-Pocketed Donors Cut Back, Arts Are A Tough Sell
“Corporations and wealthy individuals are donating less to nonprofits, with arts groups taking the biggest hit, according to two new studies. Of 158 companies polled by the economic-research group the Conference Board in February, 45 percent said they have reduced their 2009 philanthropy budget and 16 percent are considering it. The survey said 35 percent of the companies will make fewer grants in 2009 and 22 percent are thinking about it.”
Silencing Kindle A Needless Response To Erroneous Claim
Amazon was wrong to cave in to the Authors Guild demand that it enable the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech function only after getting authors’ and publishers’ okay. “Most fundamentally, there is no such thing as ‘audio rights’ in copyright law. Authors and publishers control the rights to create derivative works, such as audio books, but such works need to be ‘original works of authorship’ preserved in a permanent form.”
Gelb Downplays Import Of Using Chagalls As Collateral
The Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, Peter Gelb, “played down the recent Chagall deal,” in which the opera house put up its two iconic murals as collateral for an existing loan. “‘We have no intention of giving up the Chagalls,’ he said. ‘We don’t think it’s a major event.'” In another financial maneuver, the Met is requesting “an across-the-board 10 percent pay cut from its singers next season.”
Broken Deal With Hotel Leaves NYPL In A Financial Fix
“A decision by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. to back out of its plans to buy the former Donnell Library building in Midtown Manhattan is likely to deprive the New York Public Library of millions it was counting on. The sum was to help jump-start a $250 million renovation of its central library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. … The company’s move is likely to stoke anxiety among cultural organizations with outstanding commitments vital to major capital projects.”