Meta previously argued that uploading pirated books to other BitTorrent users was an unavoidable side effect of downloading them, and therefore fair use. Rightsholders suing Meta in three related cases tried to dismantle this theory by asking OpenAI and Anthropic to reveal how they torrented shadow library data. A magistrate judge denied the request, but that’s not the end of the torrenting dispute.
Source: Rightsholders Can’t Use OpenAI and Anthropic to Dismantle Meta’s Seeding Defense
The Big Five have been relatively terse in their public comments about AI. What is known is that each of the Big Five is developing proprietary AI systems for internal use, as proven by the numerous AI-related job openings the companies have posted. Publishers have a strong incentive not to speak too openly about AI, as there is a risk of facing questions for which the industry does not yet have answers.
Source: Publishing’s AI Reckoning
A federal judge has thrown out the copyright claims at the center of Wixen Music Publishing‘s lawsuit against Meta Platforms. Judge John F. Walter ruled that Wixen has not shown it holds the rights that would let it sue over the 681 works it says Meta used without a license across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The ruling knocks out both of Wixen‘s copyright claims: direct infringement by Meta and contributory infringement for what Meta‘s users did with the music.
Source: Judge throws out copyright claims in Wixen’s $102M lawsuit against Meta
In the filing, submitted to a New York federal court on Friday (September 4), the union says those deals let recordings made by its members be “fed into AI systems for commercial exploitation.” The musicians have not been paid for that use, the AFM says. Warner settled with Udio in November 2025, then days later became the first major to settle with Suno.
Source: US musicians’ union files opposition to Universal and Warner motions to dismiss
The AI music generation company has revealed details about its suite of new models, all built on its licensing deals with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe. Dubbed “V6,” the company said the collection of technology represented its most powerful models yet, with its use incorporating revenue sharing for artists and their labels. The approach kickstarts a new era that it believes will “make a bigger music industry,” according to chief product officer Jack Brody.
Source: Suno Tries to Break Into Music Mainstream With New Label-Backed Model ‘v6’
The agreement, announced on Tuesday (September 8), covers “participating repertoire” from Believe and TuneCore, its platform for self-releasing artists. “Under the agreement, music from participating Believe and TuneCore artists and labels will be included in the new music models that Suno is launching in partnership with the music industry,” the two companies said. According to the announcement, Believe and TuneCore artists and labels “can choose to opt in to new, licensed music products that the companies will create together.”
In a class action case filed by the Authors Guild and its co-plaintiff authors against OpenAI and Microsoft, all parties have filed motions for summary judgment. The plaintiffs argue that “OpenAI built the foundations of its business on mass piracy,” which included reproducing and then deleting book content found on the pirate site Library Genesis, aka LibGen. Plaintiffs note that courts have “consistently held that obtaining ‘for free’ something one would ‘ordinarily have to buy’ is not fair use.”
Source: Authors Guild, Co-Plaintiffs Seek Summary Judgment in OpenAI Case
Publishers are already adapting to a distribution environment in which search and AI increasingly mediate how audiences find information. Reuters Institute’s 2026 report found that publishers expect search referrals to fall 43% over the next three years, while Google organic search traffic to more than 2,500 news sites fell 33% globally between November 2024 and November 2025. That pressure is making licensing more relevant.
Source: Can SME licensing deals be bigger for publishers than AI?
According to the RIAA’s new report, CDs generated $171.1 million in revenue during the first half of 2026 — up 58.6% from roughly $107.9 million in the first half of 2025 — on 17.5 million units sold, up 45.7% from about 12 million units in the same period last year. The growth comes amid a surge of renewed interest in simpler tech, like so-called dumbphones, digital cameras, typewriters, landlines, and physical media like CDs and vinyl, among other categories.
Source: CD sales are making an unexpected comeback amid a retro tech boom
Using Hollywood’s publicity-machine-ready math, this summer’s $4.76 billion estimated haul was 9 percent higher than the $4.35 billion collected in 2019, the summer before Covid upended moviegoing. Adjusted for inflation, the 2019 total rises to $5.7 billion, putting this summer 17 percent below it. Higher ticket prices disguise a deeper decline in attendance. From Jan. 1 through Aug. 16, domestic theaters sold an estimated 568.4 million tickets, down 30 percent from the same period in 2019, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Source: Hollywood’s Box Office Boom Comes With 248 Million Missing Tickets