Google accepts need for ‘new value exchange’ with publishers

Google has said it is exploring new “value exchange models” with publishers and accepted the need for independent regulation of AI. The tech giant’s paper, A Pragmatic Approach to AI Governance in America, has defended the use of publicly available online content for training AI models, but said it is “piloting novel ways to partner with websites whose content meaningfully contributes to the freshness and factuality of generative AI responses”.

Source: Google accepts need for ‘new value exchange’ with publishers

Is Embedding Someone Else’s Image Copyright Infringement? Fifth Circuit May Finally Tell Us

The Copyright Act grants authors the exclusive right “to display the copyrighted work publicly,” and that right has proven remarkably resistant to resolution in the internet context. Courts across the country have been unable to agree on a deceptively simple question: when a website embeds an image that lives on someone else’s server, and that image appears on a visitor’s screen, who has displayed it?

Source: Is Embedding Someone Else’s Image Copyright Infringement? The Fifth Circuit May Finally Tell Us

Anthropic accuses Chinese rival Alibaba of illicitly extracting AI capabilities

US artificial intelligence (AI) giant Anthropic has accused Chinese e-commerce and technology firm Alibaba of “brazenly” and “illicitly” extracting its Claude AI model’s capabilities. In a letter sent to two members of the US Congress, the San Francisco-based company said operators linked to Alibaba carried out almost 29 million exchanges with Claude using thousands of fraudulent accounts in what it called the largest extraction campaign of its kind.

Source: Anthropic accuses Chinese rival Alibaba of illicitly extracting AI capabilities

Hollywood Workers Are Training AI Models as Job Prospects Grow Slim

In 2023, concerns over the rise of generative AI animated the writers’ and actors’ strikes, with many rank-and-file workers fearful that it could put wide swaths of the entertainment industry out of work. Three years later, with those concerns still alive and well, some Hollywood workers have been moonlighting in AI training, working to help improve the tech, anyway. As the traditional film and television job market narrows, this kind of gig work is on the rise and current and former entertainment workers are taking part.

Source: Hollywood Workers Are Training AI Models as Job Prospects Grow Slim

Spotify wins dismissal of lawsuit claiming it allowed ‘billions’ of fraudulent Drake streams

A US federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action that accused Spotify of allowing billions of bot-generated fake streams to inflate the play counts of Drake and other artists. Judge Josephine Staton, of the US District Court for the Central District of California, granted Spotify‘s motion to dismiss on Monday (June 22). The case was brought by Eric Dwayne Collins, the rapper known as RBX, who claimed Spotify‘s failure to curb “mass-scale fraudulent streaming” had stripped royalties from other rights holders.

Source: Spotify wins dismissal of lawsuit claiming it allowed ‘billions’ of fraudulent Drake streams

Amended Complaint Filed in Taylor Swift Trademark Case

The amended complaint names four defendants: Swift; her rights-management company, TAS Rights Management; UMG Recordings; and UMG‘s merchandise arm, Bravado International Group Merchandising Services. It assigns each a separate role, stating that Swift selected, approved, and promoted the designation, that TAS owns and licenses it, that UMG distributes the recordings and related goods, and that Bravado designs, manufactures, and sells the merchandise.

Source: Amended Complaint Filed in Taylor Swift Trademark Case

The EU’s AI Transparency Code of Practice, Explained

In June, the European Commission published the final version of the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content (Code). Its release nearly completes the largest part of the Commission’s broader effort to develop supporting documents aimed at facilitating compliance with the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act before those obligations take effect. The Code was developed by independent experts in a multi-stakeholder process coordinated by the AI Office.

Source: The EU’s AI Transparency Code of Practice, Explained

Hollywood and Big Tech Are Preparing For War

As tech and AI companies push further into entertainment and media, their stewardship of that content (or lack thereof) is becoming a story into itself. At the same time, strategic maneuvers by Amazon, YouTube and Meta appear designed to take over the biggest screen in the home: The TV set, ultimately stealing time from legacy studios in what is effectively a zero sum game.

Source: Hollywood and Big Tech Are Preparing For War

New Lawsuit Accuses Spotify of ‘Undisclosed Filtering Practices’ to Boost Majors Over Indies

Mark Kratter, who appears to release music as part of a namesake band, submitted the concise complaint to the Stamford Superior Court. Off the bat, the action reads like a recap of well-established facts concerning Spotify’s far-from-ideal royalty realities. However, the suit, alleging violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and more, doesn’t solely retread already-covered angles.

Source: New Lawsuit Accuses Spotify of ‘Undisclosed Filtering Practices’ to Boost Majors Over Indies

UK news industry backs law to stop deceptive AI scraping

A proposed UK law is being drafted to stop companies deploying AI bots from using deceptive tactics to scrape websites. The Automated Online Software (Access and Transparency) Bill is unlikely to become law, unless it secures backing from the Government, but it has the support of publishers and could well help shape other legislation. The move follows New York state passing the Stealth Crawler Preservation Act.

Source: UK news industry backs law to stop deceptive AI scraping

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