CHILD’S P(L)AY

Damien Hirst has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to two children’s charities to settle a copyright suit sparked by his latest work, “Hymn,” a 20ft bronze sculpture (which recently sold for £1m) that is a larger-than-life replica of a well-known child’s anatomy set. – BBC

MAN OH MANN

The governor of Virginia has objected to a slide show by photographer Sally Mann given earlier this month in a state-owned museum. In his letter to the museum’s interim director the governor wrote he was ‘shocked and dismayed that this type of exhibit occurred on state-owned property.'” – Fox News (AP)

LONGING FOR BREVITY

Not a lot of consensus about the offerings at Cannes this year except for this: many of the films are too long. “It’s like that old joke, I didn’t have time to write a short speech, so I wrote a long speech,” filmmaker Brian de Palma said here last week, commenting on the increasing length of movies. “If you’re not sure what you want to say, it takes longer to say it.” – National Post (Canada) 05/19/00

TRUCE TIME

Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin announced at Thursday’s annual shareholders meeting that he has reached an agreement with Walt Disney Co. that should end the dispute between the two companies over program transmission on Disney-owned networks. – New York Times 05/19/00