Headlines

What Audible’s new royalty model means for its audiobook battle with Spotify

August 5, 2024By rightstech

The new model does distribute royalties according to titles or hours listened, dividing the value of a member’s plan and any additional audiobook credits used “among the titles the member listened to over the course of the month.” Audible’s new royalty model is a response to Spotify’s encroachment into the audiobook space but it is also an early statement to the publishing world about how the company plans to account to publishers and authors.

Source: What Audible’s new royalty model means for its audiobook battle with Spotify

‘Fairly Trained’ debuts tougher standards for ethical AI certification

August 5, 2024By rightstech

Many AI developers use architectures that include more than one model. These models serve different functions in the AI technology the company is building. So far, Fairly Trained has offered developers certification badges based on specific models they use. Now, however, the non-profit will be issuing new badges to certified companies, and those companies “will be required to be transparent with users about which elements of their architecture are and are not certified.”

Source: Music AI platforms can get a ‘Fairly Trained’ certification for meeting ethical standards. Those standards just got tougher.

Artists and major music companies applaud introduction of ‘landmark’ NO FAKES Act in US Senate

August 5, 2024By rightstech

The bill was introduced in the US Senate on Wednesday (July 31) by two Democratic senators – Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota – and two Republicans, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The bill has received backing from many prominent members of the music industry, including Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April in support of the legislation.

Source: Artists and major music companies applaud introduction of ‘landmark’ NO FAKES Act in US Senate

Harmony Or Discord? The Impact Of Generative AI On Music Copyright

August 5, 2024By rightstech

AI-generated music forces us to reconsider fundamental concepts of authorship, creativity and intellectual property rights. As AI systems produce new compositions based on vast datasets of existing music, the boundaries between human and machine creativity blur. Who holds the rights to AI-generated songs that draw inspiration from copyrighted works? How do we fairly compensate the original human creators whose material formed the basis of the AI’s learning?

Source: Council Post: Harmony Or Discord? The Impact Of Generative AI On Music Copyright

Studios Throw Support Behind SAG-AFTRA-Backed AI Digital Replicas Bill

August 5, 2024By rightstech

As SAG-AFTRA been pushing for protections against AI, the studios have been reluctant to support any legislation that might crack down on its uses too broadly. But now, it appears that the parties are on the same page as they’ve both thrown their support behind a newly introduced bipartisan Senate bill. The NO FAKES Act finally received support from the studios via the Motion Picture Association on Wednesday, after the group had warned of potential First Amendment violations earlier this year.

Source: Studios Throw Support Behind SAG-AFTRA-Backed, Bipartisan Bill Regulating AI Digital Replicas Upon Senate Introduction

Songwriters Are Getting Screwed by Streaming Even Worse Than They’d Thought

July 31, 2024By rightstech

It is no secret that songwriters are at the bottom of the streaming economy. But a new report shows they receive 9.5% of the average $.004 per stream. Of the over 300 songwriters surveyed for the study, only 10% earn more than $30,000 annually, while over half (54%) earn between $0 and $1,000. Some 67% of the respondents said the “lack of meaningful streaming income” is their primary challenge.

Source: Songwriters Are Getting Screwed by Streaming Even Worse Than They’d Thought, New Study Shows

Senators want to prevent the next Scarlett Johansson AI voice fiasco

July 31, 2024By rightstech

Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday are formally introducing an updated version of the Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe Act, or No Fakes Act, a major entry in the congressional debate over AI guardrails. The bill, initially unveiled as a discussion draft late last year, would give people a federal property right to approve the use of their voice, appearance or likeness — and expose those who create or distribute an unauthorized replica to legal liability.

Source: Analysis | Senators want to prevent the next Scarlett Johansson AI voice fiasco

Copyright Office Calls for Federal Digital Replica Law

July 31, 2024By rightstech

Given the gaps in existing legal protections, the Office recommends that Congress enact a new federal law that protects all individuals from the knowing distribution of unauthorized digital replicas. The Office also offers recommendations on the elements to be included in crafting such a law.

Source: Copyright Office Releases Part 1 of Artificial Intelligence Report, Recommends Federal Digital Replica Law

AI’s search quake shakes media landscape

July 31, 2024By rightstech

Negotiations between the tech and news industries over AI have mostly focused on providing data for the broad training of large language models (LLMs) — but now, deal talks are shifting to address narrower use cases, where news publishers may have more leverage.

Source: AI’s search quake shakes media landscape

Websites are Blocking the Wrong AI Scrapers

July 31, 2024By rightstech

Hundreds of websites trying to block the AI company Anthropic from scraping their content are blocking the wrong bots, seemingly because they are copy/pasting outdated instructions to their robots.txt files, and because companies are constantly launching new AI crawler bots with different names that will only be blocked if website owners update their robots.txt.

Source: Websites are Blocking the Wrong AI Scrapers (Because AI Companies Keep Making New Ones)