Does the Visual Artists Rights Act need to be revisited? “New law often has unintended consequences, and VARA, which was intended to resolve conflicts between artists and private collectors, has set off disputes between the rights of artists and those of building owners. Most of the artwork involved is owned by people who really aren’t collectors. They tend to be government officials or the buyers of buildings, who are not aware of the art law’s restrictions.”
Tag: 05.27.04
Playwright Who Championed Workers’ Rights Planning Non-Union Production
A prominent playwright and director who “developed his theater company as a part of the farmworkers’ labor movement, is planning to open a non-union tour of his signature production in San Jose in August. Luis Valdez says the `tremendous irony’ of staging non-union performances at the Center for Employment Training throws a spotlight on the cultural, financial and political challenges faced by regional arts groups.”
NY Arts Groups Protest City Funding Cuts
New York City arts groups are protesting mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to slash city arts funding. “We are sending a distress signal to the mayor and the City Council that if the budget is adopted at this level, it would become the fourth year in a row that the city’s cultural institutions have been seriously underfunded. Instead of helping the city to rebound, the proposed cuts risk severely imperiling the fiscal health of our city’s most cherished cultural treasures.”
The Shrinking Newspaper (Literally)
Circulation of broadsheet newspapers is shrinking. Some say readers are put off by the unwieldy size of the pages, so some newspapers are reinventing in smaller formats. “At Britain’s Independent, total circulation has risen by about 15% from last year thanks to its small edition. This month it dropped its broadsheet edition altogether. As many as 30 papers from around the world are thinking about doing something similar.” Can the key to circulation health really be that simple?
Children’s Author Pleads Guilty To Abusing Children
Prolific children’s book author William Mayne recently confessed to having sexually abused little girls who came to visit him. “Will anyone, having read such details, want to read stories by Mayne again? Or want their children to read them? Even if they are innocent as can be, his stories for younger readers, about a bobbed, big-eyed seven-year-old called Netta, can hardly escape being contaminated by the interest we now understand he took in eight-year-olds. Then again, a book cannot be judged by its author.”
Art Gallery Of Ontario Woos Back Patrons
“The falling-out between the Art Gallery of Ontario and its longtime benefactors Joey and Toby Tanenbaum has ended, as the gallery announced Wednesday that Joey Tanenbaum will immediately rejoin its board of trustees.”
Toting Up The Saatchi Fire Loss
“A warehouse fire in Leyton, east London, is estimated to have sent £50m of modern art up in smoke. More than 100 pieces owned by art mogul Charles Saatchi were among those inside. It said the fire appeared to have started in a separate building in the warehouse complex, some distance from the art storage unit.”
Artists To Sue Storage Company
“Artists and collectors are preparing to sue Momart, the art storage company, for negligence after the warehouse fire in which hundreds of works were destroyed.”
Rowling: Flattered By Fan Fiction
JK Rowling has given her blessing to the flourishing genre of web fan fiction that uses her characters in new stories. “Thousands of fans have written their own stories based on the world of Harry Potter, which are published on the net. The release of the third Potter movie is expected to boost the already hugely-popular fan fiction phenomenon.”
But We’re Still The Network Of Youth And Rebellion! Really!
MTV Networks is refusing to run ads for the documentary Super Size Me, in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald’s food for a month, inducing horrifying health problems. MTV executives called the ads “disparaging to fast food restaurants” by way of explaining their decision.