In late January 2026, a leaked version of the EP’s compromise amendments to its draft report became available. The compromise amendments for the most part simply beef up the proposals in the earlier, draft report – for example, by proposing a more robust licensing and remuneration regime for training data and post-training uses. However, there are a couple of proposals worth noting.
Source: European Parliament Proposes Changes to Copyright Protection in the Age of Generative AI
Throw a frog in a pot of boiling water and it will instantly jump out, terrified (and very hot). But put it in a pot of cool water and slowly increase the heat to boiling and it will stay there until it dies. Gruesome? Yes. But a useful analogy for the music industry? Also ‘yes.’ Crucially, the cultural costs were neither as visible nor impactful at the start, instead creeping up over time until suddenly they became the fault lines of today’s business.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly involved in art, ethical and societal concerns have emerged about AI’s place in creative work. “The capitalist era that we live in favors efficiency over artistic merit,” third-year art student Josue Herrera said. Depending on the intricacy of the prompt, the AI model, the size of the creation and other factors, AI can generate a piece of artwork anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. Meanwhile, digital creators can take months to finish a piece.
Source: ‘Efficiency over artistic merit’: The crossover between art and artificial intelligence
Sound Royalties says its 2025 performance also included a doubling of its assets under management (AUM) generated through referred business, representing an increase of over 100% year-over-year. During the year, the company added dozens of new payors to its network, including labels, distributors, publishers, PROs, television networks and content platforms.
Source: Sound Royalties says it closed a record $135m in funded contracts in 2025
US performance rights organization ASCAP has reported its revenue and royalty payout numbers for 2025, with both figures hitting all-time highs. Revenue came in at $1.945 billion for calendar 2025, up 6.0% year over year. Of that, New York-based ASCAP distributed $1.759 billion to songwriters, composers, and music publishers, an increase of 3.7% YoY.
Source: ASCAP paid out a record $1.76bn to songwriters and publishers in 2025
Sony Music Group‘s parent company, Japan-headquartered Sony Group, has reportedly developed technology to identify copyrighted music embedded in AI-generated tracks. That’s according to the financial news outlet Nikkei Asia, which reported on Monday (February 16) that the tech has opened a path for songwriters to claim compensation when their work is used without authorization.
Source: Sony Group develops tech to track original music in AI-generated songs (report)
The Motion Picture Association on Thursday denounced the newest AI video generator, Seedance 2.0, saying it had unleashed a flood of copyright infringement in the day since it became available. ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, said the model represents a “substantial leap in generation quality” since the previous version.
Amazon joins Microsoft, which recently launched Publisher Content Marketplace, in developing platforms to allow publishers to license content and be paid-per-use, rather than by offering an blanket, up-front fee. The two tech giants are not operating in a vacuum, as a variety of companies have been racing to establish their their own licensing platforms.
If enacted as drafted, the bill would establish mandatory reporting requirements for companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) models that are trained using original works that are protected under U.S. copyright law, and would create an additional cause of action for copyright owners alleging that generative AI developers failed to give such notice with respect to their works.
Source: CLEAR Act Would Establish Notice Requirements for Copyrighted Works in AI Training Data
LightBar, founded by an anonymous CEO with credentials in the fintech world, wants to become a gun for hire for studios, enlisting internet users to hunt down AI models generating content that could have been trained on copyrighted material. Or, to put it another way, LightBar is assembling bounty hunters to track down misuse of Hollywood IP.
Source: Big AI Beware: Bounty Hunters Are Coming To Track Down Misuse Of Hollywood IP