“Like Netflix, Amazon had been systematically undervaluing imputed license fees on theatrical films where it was both the producer and the distributor,” wrote WGA West leaders in a memo to members, first reported by Deadline. The guild filed its arbitration claim against Amazon in 2020. - Seattle Times
We created a unique album solely for the pleasure of giving it to Queen Elizabeth. With the help of Billy Strayhorn, he composed The Queen’s Suite, had one record manufactured—and sent it directly to Buckingham Palace, solely intended for Her Majesty’s ears. - Ted Gioia
Webster University in St. Louis is renowned for attracting top-notch chess talent to its school, and now its School of Education is offering a minor degree focused on the game. Core courses range from chess in history to the psychology and strategy of the game. - The Globe & Mail (Canada)
Strategies on how to lodge complaints against books are traded on Facebook and shared among branch chapters of parental rights groups. One of the most influential of these groups is the Florida-based Moms for Liberty. Since January 2021, it has grown to 200 chapters with 100,000 members. - The New York Times
The number of banned theater directors, filmmakers, playwrights and musicians had been growing by the day. “I look around and I cannot find anything left of my favorite free theater,” Kogut told The Daily Beast. “There is not a single acute play left in the repertoires of Moscow theaters." - The Daily Beast
The modern idea of the self emerged "in a quiet university town called Jena, some 150 miles southwest of Berlin. It was there that, in the 1790s, a small group of rebellious playwrights, poets, and writers revolutionized the way we think of ourselves and the world." - The Atlantic
Early in the pandemic, "the Internet Archive made a decision that pissed off a lot of writers—and embroiled it in a lawsuit that many netizens fear could weaken the archive, its finances, and its services long into the future." - Slate
The history of the rating is, one might say, fraught. But Netflix isn't a movie theatre; why does it have an NC-17 rating on its film? The answer: The streaming service is reaching for an Oscar. - Salon
Poitier was "a man who both aspired and inspired just as much as he frustrated and disappointed. We rarely ever really talk about that last part. Sidney implores us anyway." - HuffPost
Thanks, public domain! No, but truly, thank you for expiring, copyright. We now have everything from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to "all-time classic" 10 Things I Hate About You. - NPR
Ememem "has made a speciality of filling divots and potholes with multicoloured mosaics made from tiles of different sizes and different hues, arranged in striking geometric patterns. Some bear his signature, often in the form of an image of a trowel underscored by his name." - The Observer (UK)
Why doesn't its history with a content provider who had zillions of subscribers - but was a favorite of the neo-Nazis - get the same blowback as other social media? (Transcript of this podcast here.) - Slate
There are so, so many series out there - 500 or more, and "the crush of programming means that even worthy shows struggle for recognition." - Seattle Times (AP)
MoMA makes a case for including games in the permanent collection - and a case that says humans respond the same way to video game art as they do to sculptures, paintings, and prints. - Wired
No one (associated with the play) knows. "In early 2021, a few months into the production’s run, Instagram started cutting off these live streams, citing 'nudity or sexual acts.' Then the account tied to the play disappeared from the platform’s search results." (There was no nudity.) - The New York Times
