Publishers have welcome a ruling from the European Commission fining Google £2.5bn and ordering it to stop abusing its dominant position in the world of adtech. Daily Mail publisher DMGT is among those to have previously argued Google has been guilty of “punishing publishers that do not submit to its practices” by effectively rigging ad auctions. It filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the US in 2021.
Source: Publishers welcome EU move to break up Google adtech monopoly
The federal judge overseeing Anthropic PBC’s proposed $1.5 billion copyright settlement is concerned class lawyers are striking a deal behind the scenes that will be forced “down the throat of authors.” Judge William Alsup at the hearing said the motion to approve the deal was denied without prejudice, but in a minute order after the hearing said approval is postponed pending submission of further clarifying information.
Source: Anthropic Judge Blasts $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement (2)
U.S. antitrust enforcers have spent years strategizing how to bring lawsuits against the nation’s biggest tech companies, with the goal of restraining their power and promoting competition. Tuesday’s ruling imposing light penalties on Google highlights fundamental challenges with that approach, even when a judge finds a company has engaged in illegal monopolization.
Source: Google Ruling Shows Antitrust Tools Struggle to Keep Up With Tech Markets
The Mechanical Licensing Collective was established to streamline digital mechanical royalty payouts. But even well-intentioned systems can be designed in ways that introduce new risks. That includes the lack of recourse for rights holders and the roll-up of unmatched royalties based on market share. But the biggest issue is the ease with which the system can be manipulated.
Source: Duplicate Works, Diverted Royalties, and What the MLC Isn’t Catching – Digital Music News
While most Wall Street analysts seemed to agree that Judge Mehta’s ruling was a major win for the tech industry, the judge did order some remedies that could make a difference, according to experts. For example, Google must share certain data with “qualified competitors” as deemed by the court. The judge will also allow certain competitors to display Google search results as their own in a bid to give them the time and resources they need to innovate.
Source: A let-off or tougher than it looks? What the Google monopoly ruling means
New information has emerged in the class action lawsuit against AI company Anthropic which could limit the number of books included in the case—just days before the September 8 hearing in which the details of a settlement among the parties is expected to be released. “As a bright line rule,” the AAP observed, “any work published or registered after July 2022 is definitively outside the class, and for some works the cutoff is June 2021.”
Source: Authors, Publishers Await Answers as Anthropic Hearing Approaches
Facebook parent company Meta has removed some of its AI celebrity chatbots, with “temporary changes” to its chatbot policies related to teens. The changes come ahead of a Senate probe launched to investigate reports of the chatbots engaging in “sensual” conversations with minors.
Source: Meta Did Not Have Permission to Make Its Flirty Celeb Chatbots
Vinyl, CDs, and cassettes remain exempt from U.S. tariffs, but the likes of Bandcamp are addressing impacts on shipping, merch, and more. Notwithstanding the exception for vinyl and CDs, Discogs has warned that “customs and postal carriers may experience delays or mistakes as they adjust to the new requirements.” (Other national carriers are said to have paused U.S. deliveries altogether.)
Source: Vinyl & CDs Remain Exempt from Tariffs — Merch Subject to Duties
On September 29, U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib plans to reintroduce her Living Wage for Musicians Act in Congress—and the United Musicians and Allied Workers union (UMAW) is busy drumming up support ahead of time. The union is encouraging artists and fans alike to write to their Congress members and ask them to support the bill when it hits the floor later this month.
Source: Living Wage for Musicians Act is Back, Reintroduced to Congress
It concluded that because songwriters are not “owed” black box royalties, the class doesn’t have a legitimate claim under UK law. It also concluded that Rowntree’s lawyers hadn’t proposed an alternative to PRS’ method of distributing black box royalties, and doubted that the “cost-benefit” ratio of the lawsuit made sense, given that PRS is a not-for-profit owned by its publisher and songwriter members.