Disney and Universal sued a prominent artificial intelligence start-up for copyright infringement on Wednesday, bringing Hollywood belatedly into the increasingly intense legal battle over generative A.I. The movie companies sued Midjourney, an A.I. image generator that has millions of registered users. The 110-page lawsuit contends that Midjourney “helped itself to countless” copyrighted works to train its software.
Source: Disney and Universal Sue A.I. Firm Midjourney for Copyright Infringement
Academic publishers are rushing to sign licensing deals with artificial intelligence companies, carving out a new revenue stream as US research funding cuts dim their outlook. Taylor & Francis signed a $10 million deal with Microsoft Corp. last year. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is looking to “monetize academic content through AI deals,” it said in its latest set of results, and John Wiley & Sons Inc. announced partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Perplexity earlier this year.
The Book Industry Study Group has announced the launch of Find a Rightsholder, a searchable database with information on how to reach rights and permissions contacts for more than 3,500 imprints. Unlike title management tools that seek to facilitate dealmaking and take a cut of any transaction, Find a Rightsholder is focused solely on helping the publishing community locate relevant contacts for U.S. and U.K. publishers.
