March, 2018

The EU Commission has announced that, in the absence of a transitional agreement stating otherwise, EU copyright rules will no longer apply in the UK after Brexit. The Commission published the notice to stakeholders regarding copyright and Brexit today, March 28.

Source: EU copyright rules will not apply post-Brexit

In its newly released “Industrial Strategy” plan the UK government remains committed to protecting copyright holders. In addition to funding copyright education efforts, it will help to broker voluntary anti-piracy agreements between online services and copyright holders.

Source: UK Urges Online Intermediaries to Tackle Piracy, Or Else – TorrentFreak

AI researcher Robbie Barrat decided to see what would happen when he fed a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) thousands of nude portraits from a dataset and then trained it to create its own bizarre artworks.

Source: AI gets naughty by generating surreal nude portraits

The remarkable thing about KittyRace is that its creators have nothing to do with Axiom Zen, apart from being CryptoKitties fans. No royalties or licensing fees are paid, and no partnerships were struck. This sort of “permissionless” development, in crypto parlance, underlines the benefits of blockchain-based assets.

Source: CryptoKitties are racing for prize money on the ethereum blockchain

Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim signaled this week that his division was taking a fresh look at the consent decrees under which performance royalty organizations (PROs) collect their fees, and with a fairly critical eye. That came in an appearance this week at Vanderbilt Law School, where he said reviewing consent decrees was one of his priorities coming into the job.

Source: DOJ Antitrust Chief: We Are Reviewing ASCAP, BMI Consent Decrees

Once again, tales of the demise of the music industry appear to have been exaggerated. Revenue figures for recorded music in the U.S. show strong growth in 2017, both at wholesale value (12.6% to $5.9 billion) and at estimated retail value (16.5% to $8.7 billion).

Source: Five years of consistent revenue growth for the U.S. recorded music industry

As concerns over privacy and data continue to grow, blockchain technology may provide the TV industry with a transparent path to monetization that lets networks, advertisers and consumers come out ahead.

Source: On Television, Will Blockchain Become The Anti-Facebook?

Buying a piece of art has long been considered an investment, of time as well as money, requiring visits to galleries and trips to auction houses. But technology is changing the way we interact with, buy, and sell art. And artists are adapting their creative processes to suit a changing landscape.

Source: Meet the female ‘artpreneur’ making a splash online

Last May, Members of the European Parliament voted to grant EU citizens the right to enjoy legally purchased music and movie subscriptions when they travel to another EU country. It’s hoped the new system will dampen frustrations and reduce Internet piracy. The rules comes into force this Sunday.

Source: EU Content Rules to Improve Access & Reduce Piracy Start April 1 – TorrentFreak

The service, Business Premium powered by Napster, allows large and small businesses in the U.S., Canada and Spain to access hundreds of AI-generated and human-curated stations, as well as the ability to create a custom station from an artist or song using the Napster catalog.

Source: SoundMachine Partners With Napster for Expanded Music Subscription…