Headlines

Publishers acquire stake in song at center of termination rights case; plan SCOTUS challenge

Capitol CMG, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMG Rights Management and Essential Music Publishing filed a motion on March 26 in the US Middle District of Louisiana asking the court to substitute them as defendants in place of Robert Resnik, who sold his asserted 25% stake in Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) to the publishers on March 20. The publishers said in the filing that they acquired Resnik’s stake as they seek to ask the Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s January ruling.

Source: Publishers acquire stake in song at center of termination rights case; plan SCOTUS challenge

Copyright maximalism will stifle a research-intensive digital economy

As this recent report highlights, more than 1,000,000 UK businesses use machine learning but, contrary to the hype, most will not be using GenAI models and virtually none creating music.In the modern world, where everything we do with online material involves a copy being made of it by a computer and its network, how we define the scope of copyright law has major consequences for our ability to harness the full potential of digital technologies. 

Source: Copyright maximalism will stifle a research-intensive digital economy

SCOTUS’s Cox Ruling Could Impact Publishers’ Fight Against AI

If a Cox subscriber used broadband to pirate a novel, Cox did not build its network to enable that outcome. When a user prompts an AI model to write in the style of Cormac McCarthy or generate a sonnet that reads like Shakespeare, the system was built explicitly to fulfill that request. Under Judge Thomas’s framework, that distinction could matter enormously.

Source: SCOTUS’s Cox Ruling Could Impact Publishers’ Fight Against AI

SCOTUS Copyright Decision a Big Win for ISPs and, Potentially, Other Digital Players

The decision establishes a clear rule that contributory copyright liability requires inducement of infringement or provision of a service tailored to infringement. Mere knowledge that a service is being used for infringement, even coupled with a failure to terminate the infringing user, is insufficient. This provides significant protection for ISPs and other general-purpose service providers.

Source: SCOTUS Copyright Decision a Big Win for ISPs and, Potentially, Other Digital Players

Major Publishers Make a Decisive Legal Strike Against Anthropic’s ‘Limitless AI Rip-Offs’

Filed on Monday in San Jose federal court, the publishers push back against tech companies’ continued claim that “fair use” applies to copying millions of copyrighted works without authorization to train AI models. Their case argues that Claude’s AI-generated lyrics are by definition derivatives of the publishers’ lyrics and “compete with and dilute the market” for them. “The evidence in this case is overwhelming,” the filing asserts, adding that Anthropic has “committed copyright infringement on a massive scale.”

Source: Major Publishers Make a Decisive Legal Strike Against Anthropic’s ‘Limitless AI Rip-Offs’

Supreme Court Limits Liability of ISPs for Music Piracy

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with internet provider Cox Communications, holding that it cannot be held liable for music piracy even if it did not take adequate steps to curb the copyright infringement. The justices, in a 9-0 ruling, were weighing in on a lengthy legal fight between Cox and Sony Music Entertainment, which had sought huge damages against the internet provider for not blocking service to those who egregiously downloaded protected works.

Source: Supreme Court Limits Liability of ISPs for Music Piracy

Spotify’s new SongDNA feature maps how your favorite songs are connected

Now available to Premium subscribers on iOS and Android, the feature provides an interactive experience that lets users trace other components of a song beyond the singer, songwriter, or musician. With SongDNA, listeners could explore other connections, like who may have covered that song, plus other information like samples, interpolations, or what other projects the song’s collaborators have also been involved in.

Source: Spotify’s new SongDNA feature maps how your favorite songs are connected

Can AI Music Be A Real Growth Market?

The conversations around the usage of AI in music can get quite nebulous without proper framing. On one hand, Suno’s current role, according to CEO Mikey Shulman, is that it’s the Ozempic of the music industry: everyone is on it, but no one is telling you. With 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue, the sizable base is there. The question now is what the ceiling looks like. The belief that “most of the music on Suno is bad,” is also accurate. But most songs on Spotify are not good.

Source: Can AI Music Be A Real Growth Market?

Why Is the Music Industry Still Estimating Public Performance?

At a top level, public performances of musical works are tracked by a vast and complex system of loosely tied organizations. Issues aside — and there are many — it’s a remarkably complex royalty-collection mechanism for music IP owners, with PROs worldwide tracking and charging for music the public enjoys. But is it time for that mechanism to undergo a system upgrade?

Source: Why Is the Music Industry Still Estimating Public Performance?

US judge dismisses Google monopoly claim brought by local publishers

A judge has dismissed an antitrust case brought by two US news publishers alleging Google has monopolized the online news market via its search business.  US District Judge Amit P. Mehta said the publishers did not successfully prove they have antitrust standing, meaning that they had suffered harm as a result of the tech giant’s actions within the search market.

Source: US judge dismisses Google monopoly claim brought by local publishers

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