Tech companies and consumer groups are trying to persuade the U.S. Congress to hold public hearings before it adopts the so-called Induce Act, which would hold companies that manufacture file-trading software liable for the illegal actions of its users. The issue of secondary liability is far more complicated than many of the bill’s sponsors seem to realize, but Congress’s desire to pass some sort of serious copyright reform quickly may trump the need for further debate.
Tag: 09.18.04
Napster, Take 3
Following the Napster name from pirate scourge to persecuted litigant to legit music company over the last few years has been dizzying. “Now in its latest reincarnation, [Napster’s current parent] Roxio has shed its CD-burning software business and plans to concentrate solely on selling and delivering music over the web. It will adopt Napster as its corporate name, trading under a new ticker symbol. The pure-play move will mark Napster’s birth as the name of a public company, but more importantly, arm the company with resources to help survive the rough-and-tumble as other deep-pocketed, powerful rivals enter the crowded online music space.”
Why Not Play And Talk?
A strike by the Philadelphia Orchestra could cripple the organization and severely hurt other Center City businesses. Moreover, a work stoppage seems purely unnecessary, given the other options available. “Neither side need surrender – simply stay at the table and hammer out what they both say they want: a financially responsible future that preserves the artistic integrity of one of the world’s most beloved institutions… But management cannot expect players to absorb a combination of new rules, pay and benefit changes… without putting something beyond job guarantees on the table. These people aren’t making widgets… They deserve more respect.”
Is Montreal Next?
The musicians of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra have been playing without a contract for over a year, and have announced that they will skip the first two rehearsals of the season in protest of the lack of progress in negotiations. The action, which will not cancel any concerts, has led to speculation that a strike may be looming if an agreement is not reached soon.
Getting Past “The Tonto Syndrome”
Americans have always had ridiculous notions of how the native population of North America looks, acts, and lives. In fact, the absurd stereotypes heaped on the American Indian are so pervasive as to be a cultural phenomenon in themselves. But you won’t find any reference to such racist blather in Washington’s new Museum of the American Indian, with organizers hoping that “the sheer beauty and tone of the place will dispel the inaccurate mythology, jokes and war whoops that visitors grew up with. That basically includes anyone who watched TV or had a social studies class in the 20th century.” But is ignoring the misperceptions really the way to go?
Philly Theatre Cuts 3/4 Of Season
Philadelphia’s Freedom Theater has cancelled three of the four shows it planned to mount this season, citing the pressures of a $4 million debt. The company, which is “one of the city’s foremost African American cultural organizations”, has struggled to stay solvent while dealing with cost overruns on the construction and maintenance of its 300-seat theater, which opened five years ago. The theater plans to resume its full schedule in fall 2005.
Writing Their Own Election Script
“By Tuesday morning Hollywood screenwriters, working without a contract for the last half year, will have decided whether they are ripe for revolution. Under the eye of the Labor Department, the 8,000-member Writers Guild of America, West, is to conclude on Monday night a mostly mail-in election to choose a president and 8 of 16 board members. The presidential contest is between a ferocious reformer… who not only wants to fire the group’s paid executives but is also assisting a legal assault on the guild’s high-stakes system for settling film and television credits disputes – and the incumbent… who believes the members need institutional peace.”
A Unique Studio Prepares For An Uncertain Future
United Artists has always been a bit of an odd duck in the world of big-money Hollywood studios: founded and run for decades by actors, unconcerned with churning out blockbusters, and focused first and foremost on creating great works. Now, with UA’s parent company, MGM, about to be absorbed by Sony Pictures, the little studio that could is in danger of fading away, or at least having its mission twisted beyond recognition.
What A Long, Grainy Trip It’s Been
“Video art has come such a long way since it began nearly 40 years ago that it has already, in its purest form, been threatened with extinction. Like any 20th-century product that has an in-built obsolescence factor, the video camera has developed at such a rate that the original model has long been consigned to history. So has the art it produced; outdated but unforgotten by younger artists working today.” Still, the advent of digital technology has advanced the art more than it has made past work obsolete. Indeed, the genre has developed and evolved so quickly that its 40-year history is as extensive as many centuries-old art movements.
A Connecticut Copyright Conundrum, On Canvas
A provocative painting by Damien Loeb has been removed from an exhibit in Connecticut after copyright issues were raised. The painting, like much of Loeb’s work, contains photographic images appropriated from other artists’ work, and worked into Loeb’s canvas. The artist has faced legal challenges to his appropriation before, and has vehemently defended his right to employ the technique.