Art and Entertainment

Rowling and Warner Brothers are suing RDR Books to halt publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia written by the author of a popular fan site.

Reports indicate that Katie Couric will leave her anchor position on the "CBS Evening News" as early as January 2009.

Bob Dylan was awarded a special citation from the Pulitzer Board for his poetic contributions to popular music.

Heston, the star of film epics such as “El Cid” and “Ben Hur,” and Second-Amendment activist, died at his Beverly Hills home on Saturday night.

Clarke lived to see several of his innovative concepts realized, among them the geostationary satellite. The space elevator is yet to come.

The mystery surrounding the death of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French aviator and author, may have been solved by the man who unwittingly killed him.

Richer by $49 million and her divorce settled, Heather Mills sought to end an acrimonious relationship with the British press, which dubbed her "Mucca."

After 30 years' reflection, Dmitri Nabokov decides that his dead father wouldn't object to the sale of his unfinished, final novel, “The Original Of Laura."

Sony’s Blu-ray has won the DVD war against Toshiba’s HD-DVD format. But movie downloads may prove a more formidable challenge.

Considered “the father of modern gaming,” Gary Gygax died of an abdominal aneurysm on March 4. Gamers reflect on the legacy of a geek icon.

CD sales are down and MP3 downloads are up. But is sound quality suffering at the hands of the new technology?

The Oscars are no longer dominated by big-budget hits. This year’s best picture nominees prove money doesn’t guarantee quality.

The European Commission has proposed to extend performance and sound recording rights. The move would increase the lifetime earnings of artists.

“The Fox and the Flies” is receiving excellent reviews from the serious press. The book argues that the notorious Ripper was a Polish émigré called Joseph Lis.

Television writers return to work this week. Shows will return soon, but perhaps too late to recapture all of their audience.

Joel’s "The Last Play at Shea" is on July 16. The stadium is to be razed, and the Mets will play their next season at Citi Field.

The makers of the new U2 movie claim that technological innovations allowed them to capture the intensity of attending a live concert.

Celebrity spiritual adviser and founder of the transcendental meditation movement Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died Tuesday, aged 91, at his mansion in the Netherlands.

The coroner's verdict finds that recently deceased actor Heath Ledger was killed by a mix of prescription drugs.

The fortune cookie’s origins have been traced to 19th-century Japan. That could be one reason why they aren’t popular in China. 

Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead in his New York apartment. Initial speculation pointed to a drug overdose. It was also reported that Mr. Ledger had been ill, possibly with pneumonia.

As fans prepare for the Super Bowl showdown between the New York Giants and the undefeated New England Patriots, one study suggests that fan interest in the game will hurt U.S. productivity.

Research conducted by a UK university showed that patients at a pediatric ward unanimously found clowns to be frightening. Many adults are likely to concur.

CD sales are sliding for the seventh year running, artists are striking out on their own, and the record industry is in the doldrums. But not everyone is singing the blues.

As the writers strike continues, major television networks replace primetime dramas and comedies with cheap, easy-to-produce reality programming. The ratings suggest it is all the same to the audience.

With the debut of Kindle, the largest online bookseller enters the race to market the first commercially successful electronic-book reader. Amazon hopes that Kindle will do for e-book publishing what iPods did for mp3 players.

As dramas and talk shows dry up, and pressured networks ponder a season rife with new reality shows, writers look to Internet start-ups to evade the Hollywood studio system.

Chris De Burgh will be the first Western artist to perform in Iran since 1979, a fact that recalls other musicians’ visits to authoritarian countries. How will the mullahs adapt to British soft rock?

The Art Institute of Chicago removes a counterfeit sculpture previously thought to be the work of famed post-impressionist Paul Gauguin; the fake was discovered thanks to an investigation into a multimillion-dollar forgery operation run out of a garden shed by a family in Britain.