Week In Review

By Giancarla Sambo Edited by Elissa D. Hecker

Below, for your browsing convenience, the categories are divided into: Entertainment, Arts, Sports, Technology/Media, and General News: Entertainment Motivational Speaker Loses Copyright Lawsuit Against High School ...and Has to Pay $10K in Attorney Fees to the High School as Well Plaintiff, a sports psychologist, filed suit against the school district for copyright infringement after the softball team and flag corps at a public high school used their Twitter accounts to post a motivational passage from plaintiff's book, Winning Isn't Normal. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/texas/txndce/4:2020cv01157/339867/19/#:~:text=Bell%20v.%20Eagle%20Mountain%20Saginaw%20Independent%20School%20District%2C,No.%209%29%20should%20be%20and%20hereby%20is%20GRANTED.

Why the Federal Trade Commission Faces an Uphill Battle in Challenging Amazon-MGM Deal The Federal Trade Commission's scrutiny of Amazon's alleged anticompetitive practices may soon crank up a notch. https://variety.com/vip/why-the-ftc-faces-an-uphill-battle-in-challenging-amazon-mgm-deal-1235194700/

Timothy Hutton Sues After Being Dropped From 'Leverage' Reboot Timothy Hutton has sued the producers of the TV series "Leverage: Redemption", alleging that they breached his contract when they dropped him from the show following a report of a sexual assault allegation. https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/timothy-hutton-leverage-redemption-lawsuit-1235191777/

STX Puts Rights to 'Greenland' in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy to Stay in Gerard Butler Business Filed on Feb. 28 in Louisiana by ErosSTX President and General Counsel Noah Fogelson, the motion asks the bankruptcy court for relief in the form of time -- time for STX to pay its creditors and to find the capital to co-finance and co-produce a sequel to the disaster movie. https://variety.com/2022/film/news/stx-greenland-gerald-butler-chapter-11-bankruptcy-1235193763/

Netflix Asks Federal Judge to Halt Texas 'Cuties' Prosecution Netflix asked a federal court to block a Texas prosecutor from pursuing child pornography charges against the streaming service for distributing the 2020 French film "Cuties." https://variety.com/2022/film/news/netflix-cuties-lucas-babin-lewd-acts-1235195818/

Gaming Giant Behind Fortnite Buys Bandcamp, an Indie Music Haven Epic Games is acquiring an online music platform that has been embraced by musicians for its eclectic offerings and a payment system that favors artists. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/arts/music/epic-games-bandcamp.html

Ed Sheeran, Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid Fight Legal Battle Over 'Shape of You' The case, which is being heard in London's High Court, is the culmination of a 4-year legal battle between Sheeran and songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue. https://variety.com/2022/music/news/ed-sheeran-sued-copyright-infringement-1235196301/

Netflix Declines to Carry Russian Propaganda Channels Netflix won't carry the 20 Russian free-to-air propaganda channels that it could be required to host under Russian law. https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/netflix-russian-propaganda-channels-1235192082/

Disney Halting New Releases From Russia, Warner Bros Pulls "The Batman" Major Hollywood film studios are halting the releases of their upcoming movies in Russia, including Disney's latest Pixar film and Warner Brothers' "The Batman", in protest of its invasion of Ukraine. https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/disney-announces-its-halting-new-releases-from-russia/

Arts Manhattan District Attorney Returns $20 Million Worth Of Artifacts To Greece The artifacts included a sculpture of a young man from about 560 B.C., known as a kouros, that is worth $14 million, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/manhattan-da-returns-greek-artifacts-20-million_n_6216a997e4b0d1388f0ece75

Metropolitan Opera Says It Will Cut Ties With Pro-Putin Artists The Metropolitan Opera (the Met) said that it would no longer engage with performers or other institutions that have voiced support for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, becoming the latest cultural organization to seek to distance itself from some Russian artists amid Putin's invasion of Ukraine. This includes performer Anna Netrebko, who will now not appear for at least 2 seasons, after declining to comply with the Met's demand that she repudiate her public support for Putin. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/arts/music/met-opera-putin-ukraine-peter-gelb.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/arts/music/anna-netrebko-met-opera-ukraine.html

Russian Oligarch Resigns From Board of Guggenheim Museum, Which 'Condemns' Invasion of Ukraine The Guggenheim Museum in New York said that Vladimir Potanin, a Russian billionaire, had resigned from his position as one of its trustees, joining the cohort of Russian oligarchs who have faced global resistance and increased isolation following the invasion of Ukraine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/03/03/vladimir-potanin-guggenheim-ukraine-russia/

Kandinsky Painting Returned to Jewish Heirs by Amsterdam Museum A prized Kandinsky painting sold to Amsterdam's famous Stedelijk Museum during World War II has been returned to the heirs of its former Jewish owners, ending a 9-year-long saga. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/arts/design/kandinsky-painting-returned.html

Alexei Ratmansky, With Family in Kyiv, Leaves His Ballet in Moscow The choreographer Alexei Ratmansky was working on a ballet at the Bolshoi when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-leaves-bolshoi-ballet.html

Russian Artists Speak Out Against War, but Fear Reprisals Two Russian artists have pulled out of the Venice Biennale and thousands are signing antiwar petitions. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/arts/design/russian-artists-ukraine-venice-biennale.html

Valery Gergiev, a Putin Ally, Fired as Chief Conductor in Munich The conductor Valery Gergiev has lost many international engagements since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He led the London Symphony Orchestra in New York in 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/arts/music/valery-gergiev-fired-munich-ukraine.html

Sports Major League Baseball Cancels Games as Rob Manfred Announces Lockout Will Delay 2022 Opening Day Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced he has canceled Opening Day and the first two series of the 2022 season, as the league's lockout lurched into March with no new collective bargaining agreement - which could result in the first regular season games lost to a labor dispute since 1995. https://www.aol.com/sports/mlb-lockout-postpone-2022-opening-220753778.html

National Football League Becomes First Major American Sports League to Drop Covid-19 Protocols The league and the players' union announced that they would lift policies that had governed testing, masking, and social distancing since March 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/sports/football/nfl-covid-protocol.html

Brittney Griner, Star Women's Basketball National Association Center, Is Detained in Russia Russian customs officials said that the U.S. basketball player had vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/sports/basketball/russia-brittney-griner.html

The International Olympic Committee Recommends Athletes From Russia and Belarus To Be Banned From All Sports The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has advised that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus should be banned from all international sporting events. It has also withdrawn the Olympic Order from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The move follows an IOC Executive Board meeting, where Russia's invasion of Ukraine was discussed. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1119880/russia-and-belarus

In Reversal, Paralympics Bars Athletes From Russia and Belarus Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from competing in the Beijing Winter Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee announced, citing the war in Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/sports/olympics/paralympics-russia.html

Chernyshenko Hits Back Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has warned the IOC that it is opening a "Pandora's box" after stripping him and Russian President Vladimir Putin of the Olympic Orders they had been awarded. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1119920/dmitry-chernyshenko-on-olympic-order

Figure Skating Federation Bars Russians With World Championships Weeks Away The International Skating Union, figure skating's world governing body, became the latest sports federation to bar Russian athletes from competition in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/sports/russia-ban-figure-skating.html

Tennis Suspends Russia and Belarus but Will Allow Their Players to Compete The Ukrainian Tennis Federation has called on the sport's governing body, the International Tennis Federation, to expel Russia and Belarus from the organization and ban Russia from individual and team tournaments. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/sports/tennis/russia-belarus-tennis.html

FIFA and UEFA Suspend Russian National Teams and Clubs From all Competitions "Until Further Notice" FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russian national teams and clubs from all international soccer competitions "until further notice". The suspension, which comes after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will likely leave the Russian team out of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-fifa-world-cup-uefa/

Pyeongchang Still Awaits Its Olympic Payoff One of South Korea's poorest regions hoped that hosting the 2018 Games would bring tourists and prosperity. It hasn't really happened. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/world/asia/south-korea-pyeongchang-olympics.html

Russia Facing Sports Isolation Over Invasion of Ukraine The International Olympic Committee has made a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/sports-bodies-move-isolate-condemn-russia-83154354

Technology/Media Judge Says Sarah Palin 'Failed to Prove Her Case' Against The Times In an abrupt twist in a trial seen as a test of longstanding protections for American media, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said Palin's lawsuit must be dismissed because she failed to show that the newspaper acted with "actual malice", the standard in lawsuits involving public figures. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/business/media/sarah-palin-new-york-times-trial.html

Endeavor Sued by Consultant Who Claims Company Stole His Ideas for Second IPO A media consultant claims in a new lawsuit that Endeavor stole his unsolicited ideas on how to pitch itself to Wall Street, and that his concepts are single-handedly responsible for saving the company from ruin. https://variety.com/2022/film/news/endeavor-lawsuit-second-ipo-1235196688/

Millions for Crypto Startups, No Real Names Necessary Investors give money to pseudonymous developers. Venture capitalists back founders without learning their real names. What happens when they need to know? https://www.seattletimes.com/business/millions-for-crypto-startups-no-real-names-necessary/

A Coalition of State Attorneys General Opens an Investigation into TikTok A coalition of state attorney generals launched an investigation into TikTok's effect on children's health. The probe will investigate the video platform's effects on children and teen users' mental and physical health. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/technology/tiktok-states-investigation.html

Ex-Fox News Producer Broke Law With Work for Russian Oligarch, U.S. Says John Hanick was on Konstantin Malofeev's payroll after Malofeev's backing of Crimean separatists led to sanctions, an indictment says. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/nyregion/fox-producer-sanctions-russian-oligarch.html

Russia Intensifies Censorship Campaign, Pressuring Tech Giants Google, Apple, and others were warned that they must comply with a new law, which would make them more vulnerable to the Kremlin's censorship demands. The Russian law is a move by the Kremlin to counter attempts by tech companies to minimize their physical presence in the country. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/technology/russia-censorship-tech.html#:~:text=Russia%20Intensifies%20Censorship%20Campaign%2C%20Pressuring%20Tech%20Giants%20Google%2C,to%20minimize%20their%20physical%20presence%20in%20the%20country

Ukraine War Tests the Power of Tech Giants Google, Meta, Twitter, Telegram and others are levers in the conflict, caught between demands from Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/technology/ukraine-russia-social-media.html

As Tanks Rolled Into Ukraine, So Did Malware. Then Microsoft Entered the War After years of talks about the need for public-private partnerships to combat cyberattacks, the war in Ukraine is stress-testing the system. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/us/politics/ukraine-russia-microsoft.html?searchResultPosition=1

Last Vestiges of Russia's Free Press Fall Under Kremlin Pressure "Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated," a Nobel Prize winning editor said, as Russian authorities moved to control the narrative in the Ukraine war. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/world/europe/russia-ukraine-propaganda-censorship.html

BBC News 'Temporarily Suspends' Journalism in Russia After New Censorship Law The BBC is temporarily suspending journalism work in Russia after Russia passed a censorship law that would directly impact journalists in the country. https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/bbc-russia-journalists-censorship-1235196347/

YouTube Blocks Russian Channels RT, Sputnik In Europe The state-backed media organizations are considered mouthpieces of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-war-youtube-blocks-russian-channels-rt-sputnik-in-europe-2796604

The BBC Has Revived An Old-School Radio Service To Help Ukraine As TV And Internet Is Attacked By Russia The corporation said on Wednesday that the two new shortwave radio frequencies - 5735 kHz and 5875 kHz - will broadcast World Service news in English for four hours a day. These frequencies can be received clearly in Kyiv and parts of Russia, the BBC said. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bbc-ukraine-shortwave-radio-frequencies_uk_621fa132e4b0a7784bb2808f#:~:text=The%20corporation%20said%20on%20Wednesday%20that%20the%20two,Kyiv%20and%20parts%20of%20Russia%2C%20the%20BBC%20said.

Fact and Mythmaking Blend in Ukraine's Information War Experts say that stories like the Ghost of Kyiv and Snake Island, both of questionable veracity, are propaganda or morale boosters, or perhaps both. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/technology/ukraine-war-misinfo.html

General News Time Is Running Out to Avert a Harrowing Future, Climate Panel Warns The impacts of global warming are appearing faster than expected, according to a major new scientific report. It could soon become much harder to cope. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/climate/climate-change-ipcc-un-report.html

Invasion Brings Russia Global Repudiation With Cold War Echoes From culture to commerce, sports to travel, the world is shunning Russia in myriad ways to protest President Vladimir V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/world/europe/russia-ukraine-global-reaction.html

House Passes Bill to Make Lynching a Hate Crime The House passed legislation that would make lynching a federal crime after lawmakers failed to pass anti-lynching bills more than 200 times prior. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/us/politics/house-lynching-hate-crime.html

Were These Doctors Treating Pain or Dealing Drugs? The Supreme Court will hear from two convicted pill mill doctors in cases that could have significant implications for physicians' latitude to prescribe addictive painkillers. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/health/doctors-painkillers-supreme-court.html

U.S. Surgeon General Orders Tech Companies to Reveal Sources of COVID-19 Misinformation In an effort to prepare for future public health crises, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy officially calls on tech companies to supply research, data, and any information on COVID-19 misinformation. https://news.yahoo.com/us-surgeon-general-orders-tech-companies-to-reveal-sources-of-covid-19-misinformation-050540191.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall