Leading music publishers including Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Concord, and Reservoir have submitted responses to the US Copyright Office’s inquiry into Performance Rights Organizations (PROs). All have argued strongly for reduced regulation in the sector. The US Copyright Office launched its investigation in February, examining “questions related to the increase in the number of PROs and the licensing revenue distribution practices of PROs”.
Marketplace
From AI Barbie to ‘Ghiblification’ ChatGPT’s image generator put pressure on OpenAI
ChatGPT’s new image-generation tool led to a record number of users in April, forcing OpenAI’s boss to beg people to “chill out a bit”. With ChatGPT-4o, users can transform photos or memes into distinctive styles – making them look like they came straight out of The Simpsons, Rick And Morty or South Park. The internet has also discovered that the update makes it possible to recreate themselves in Barbie doll form.
Source: From AI Barbie to ‘Ghiblification’ – how ChatGPT’s image generator put ‘insane’ pressure on OpenAI
Spotify Invests $1.1M to Ramp Up Non-English Audiobooks
Spotify has announced a plan to invest €1 million ($1.1 million) to boost audiobook production in languages other than English, starting with French and Dutch. Adoption of Spotify’s audiobook offerings has been relatively slow in the Netherlands and France. According to Spotify, only about 20,000 audiobooks in French compared to around 750,000 physical books. In the Netherlands, around 15,000 Dutch audiobooks are available out of a physical library of around 209,000 titles.
Source: Spotify Invests $1.1M to Ramp Up Non-English Audiobooks
OpenAI Asks Court to Bar Elon Musk From Unfairly Attacking It
OpenAI asked a federal court on Wednesday to bar Elon Musk from unfairly attacking it through a high-profile lawsuit he filed last year, the latest move in a bitter feud between the artificial intelligence start-up and the world’s richest man. In a filing in federal court in San Francisco, OpenAI said Mr. Musk had “made it his project to take down OpenAI.” The company asked the court to hold Mr. Musk responsible for any damage he has caused the firm.
Source: OpenAI Asks Court to Bar Elon Musk From Unfairly Attacking It
Could Trump’s Tariffs Lead to China Banning Hollywood Films?
This past weekend in China, Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “A Minecraft Movie” conquered the box office and broke the hegemony of local blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” which grossed $2.11 billion after a 10-week reign. But it might be a short-lived triumph thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.
Source: Could Trump’s Tariffs Lead to China Banning Hollywood Films?
NAB Speakers Debate AI’s Impact On Jobs And Artists: ‘This is The Age of The Generalist’
The Future of Cinema Summit at the NAB Show opened Saturday morning with speakers who agreed that AI can make production faster and cheaper, but it can’t do everything. Meanwhile, the issue of jobs remained murky. “This is the age of the generalist,” suggested Eric Shamlin, CEO of AI-driven production studio Secret Level and co-chair of the TV Academy’s AI Task Force, during the SMPTE-produced summit.
Source: NAB Speakers Debate AI’s Impact On Jobs And Artists: ‘This is The Age of The Generalist’
CinemaCon Takeaways: Fights Over Theatrical Window, Fizzling Star Power
CinemaCon is supposed to celebrate the magic of the big screen and the power of the cinematic experience. Instead, this year’s Las Vegas gathering was a tense, testy affair that threatened to resurface old tensions between studios and exhibitors. All the frustrations of the past five years, during which a pandemic and two labor strikes left the movie theater business a pale shadow of itself, nearly boiled over.
Source: CinemaCon Takeaways: Fights Over Theatrical Window, Fizzling Star Power and Amazon MGM’s Big Promise
Longtime Writing Community NaNoWriMo Shuts Down After AI Drama
NaNoWriMo, the non-profit organization that grew out of the annual tradition National Novel Writing Month, had a solid 25-year run encouraging writers to speedrun the novel writing process, but it has come to an end. On Monday, the organization announced that it would cease operations due to ongoing financial issues, as well as some very public drama that has played out in recent years.
Source: Longtime Writing Community NaNoWriMo Shuts Down After AI Drama
Movie studios are being financially rewarded for AI slop on YouTube
Some Hollywood studios are reportedly earning money from fake AI-generated movie trailers on YouTube, against the wishes of the union representing actors. According to a report from Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and Sony Pictures redirected ad revenue to themselves instead of enforcing copyright protections and shutting down the popular Screen Culture and KH Studio trailer accounts.
Source: Movie studios are being financially rewarded for AI slop on YouTube
Movie Theaters Wait for Comeback as Screens Shut Down
With fewer people stopping by the box office, Regal Cinemas, Pacific Theatres, Alamo Drafthouse and others filed for Chapter 11. Some of these companies have reemerged after bankruptcy; others have dimmed their marquees forever. As a result, North America has 5,691 fewer screens compared with pre-COVID times, according to research by media consultancy Omdia.