Today’s big news: Universal Music Group and TikTok, by way of a joint announcement, have confirmed that they have struck a new licensing deal – three months after UMG pulled its recordings catalog from the service. What does this new deal mean for UMG and its artists and songwriters? Standout headline: More money. Reminder: according to Universal, TikTok’s royalty payouts to UMG prior to this new deal constituted just 1% of UMG’s total revenues.
UK lawmakers call for AI legislation to protect artists from deepfakes
The report calls for the UK to pass new laws that would protect artists’ personalities from being copied by AI without permission; mandate transparent labelling of AI-generated content; and require AI developers to gain permission from copyright holders to use their materials for training, among other things.
Source: UK lawmakers call for AI legislation to protect artists from deepfakes, copyright infringement
The Last Stock Photographers Await Their Fate Under Generative AI
Stock photographers who survived the disruptive advent of digital cameras and online sales are bracing themselves for the next great tech shock: generative AI. Some are predicting the worst. “The stock photography industry is going away,” said Connecticut-based photographer Tony Northrup.
Source: The Last Stock Photographers Await Their Fate Under Generative AI
Reservoir Media plans $100M offering to fund acquisitions, debt repayment
The move signals Reservoir’s ambition to fuel further growth through acquisitions while reducing its debt. The company said it seeks to expand its music publishing and recorded music catalogs by acquiring businesses and assets that complement its existing operations. In February, Reservoir revealed that it had spent$938 million on acquisitions since its inception in 2007 to December 31, 2023.
Source: Reservoir Media plans $100M offering to fund acquisitions, debt repayment
UK music report: ‘AI can be a great servant but would be a terrible master’
A report published by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music has called for the government to craft a “pro-creative industries AI Bill” with protection for copyright and creators at its core. That conclusion should come as no surprise given that the report was researched and funded by music industry body UK Music, whose July 2023 position paper on AI had previously set out its wishlist for the government.
Source: UK music report: ‘AI can be a great servant but would be a terrible master’
TikTok ban in EU is ‘not excluded,’ von der Leyen says
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted that banning TikTok in the European Union is an option, during a debate this evening in Maastricht, featuring parties’ lead candidates for the bloc’s 2024 election. “It is not excluded,” von der Leyen said, after the moderator referred to the United States, where TikTok faces a national ban unless it is sold by its owner, ByteDance.
Source: TikTok ban in EU is ‘not excluded,’ von der Leyen says
As British Regulators Scrutinize Microsoft and Amazon AI Deals, Industry Braces for Impact
British antitrust authorities are reviewing partnerships between tech giants and smaller AI developers, citing concerns about competition. This inquiry could reshape the AI industry’s landscape. Some experts warned that a strict antitrust ruling may not only alter how major corporations interact with emerging AI firms but could also dampen enthusiasm for new partnerships, possibly stalling the pace of innovation.
Source: As British Regulators Scrutinize Microsoft and Amazon AI Deals, Industry Braces for Impact
8 daily papers sue Microsoft, OpenAI over the new artificial intelligence
While the newspapers’ publishers have spent billions of dollars to send “real people to real places to report on real events in the real world,” the two tech firms are “purloining” the papers’ reporting without compensation “to create products that provide news and information plagiarized and stolen,” according to the lawsuit in federal court.
Source: Mercury News and other papers sue Microsoft, OpenAI over the new artificial intelligence
NIST announces new initiative to create systems that can detect AI-generated content
The National Institute of Standards and Technology today announced it’s launching a new initiative called NIST GenAI aimed at assessing generative artificial intelligence models and create systems that can identify AI=created text, images and videos. The launch of the new program came as NIST revealed its first draft publications on AI risks and standards.
Source: NIST announces new initiative to create systems that can detect AI-generated content – SiliconANGLE
Google sued by US artists over AI image generator
Google has been hit with a new copyright lawsuit in California federal court by a group of visual artists who claimed the Alphabet opens new tab unit used their work without permission to train Imagen, its artificial-intelligence powered image generator. The case is one of many potential landmark lawsuits brought by copyright owners against tech companies including Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta over the data used to train their generative AI systems.