TikTok signs global licensing deal with indie label agency Merlin

January 23, 2020By rightstech

ByteDance-owned video sharing app TikTok has inked a multi-territory licensing deal with Merlin, the global digital rights agency for the world’s independent label sector. Today’s news comes as TikTok is also understood to be in the middle of licensing negotiations with the majors.

Source: TikTok signs global licensing deal with indie label agency Merlin

RightsTech Extra

AI Companies Get the Picture

By Paul Sweeting

One of the biggest challenges facing copyright owners in grappling with the rapid development of generative AI technology, apart from a murky legal status, has been market failure, as discussed here in previous posts. The amount of existing material needed to train gen-AI models is so great, and so varied, that gauging the value of any one piece of it to establish a market price for it for licensing purposes is often effectively impossible. One group of rights owners is finding willing buyers among AI companies, however. An active, albeit for various reasons mostly sotto voce market has begun to emerge for the use of images held in large photo archives and by photo agencies and social media platforms, complete with per-unit industry and at least a nod toward creator attribution... Read More >>

Share this: