The world’s largest music rights company announced Tuesday (January 6) a strategic collaboration with AI computing giant NVIDIA, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, currently valued at approximately $4.56 trillion. According to a press release, the partnership will see NVIDIA and UMG “undertake collaborative research and development to promote shared objectives of advancing human music creation and rightsholder compensation.”
Rights
Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
Amazon’s “Ask this Book” and ElevenLabs’ “VoiceChat” features add a new layer of AI-powered interactivity between books and readers—and raise questions about the legality and reliability of such tools. “‘Ask this Book’ is designed as a reading comprehension tool for customers who have already purchased or borrowed books, providing factual information to help them better understand what they’re reading, with answers that are non-shareable and non-copyable,” an Amazon spokesperson told PW.
Source: Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
The Question of AI and Copyright Infringement is Actually an Easy One
Much of the focus on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has been on training data ingestion—the moment when AI “steals” from creators. But legally, that’s not where the real fight should be. No new formulation of copyright law by Congress, as suggested by some academics, is necessary. By considering these seven unique aspects of GenAI systems, copyright analysis is actually easy.
Source: The Question of AI and Copyright Infringement is Actually an Easy One
Legal Paperwork Flies in Intensifying Universal Music v. Suno Suit
This latest indication of a protracted courtroom confrontation arrived in the form of a signed-and-sealed confidentiality order. Just recently approved by the magistrate judge, the modified order will afford both sides quite a bit of discretion to block the public disclosure of potentially sensitive discovery materials. Then there’s a distinct “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” designation for particularly sensitive documents, besides, among others, a “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE” option.
Source: Legal Paperwork Flies in Intensifying Universal Music v. Suno Suit
AI Model Training on Trial: Getty Images v Stability AI Decision Explained
In November 2025, the English High Court delivered judgment in Getty Images (US) Inc & Others v Stability AI Ltd EWHC 2863 (Ch). This is the first UK decision to directly address whether generative AI models constitute infringing copies under English copyright law when trained on copyrighted material.
Source: RDJ LLP | AI Model Training on Trial: Getty Images v Stability AI…
A DMCA “Bot War”: Google Search Processed 5 Billion Takedown Requests in 2025
Google Search has reached a staggering new DMCA takedown milestone, processing over five billion copyright removal requests in 2025. Driven by a massive automated reporting spike, mostly from Link-Busters, the total all-time count has now eclipsed 15.8 billion. Not all reported URLs are actually removed, however. In fact, many were not even indexed by Google to begin with, which is another side effect of the ‘bot war’.
Source: A DMCA “Bot War”: Google Search Processed 5 Billion Takedown Requests in 2025 * TorrentFreak
AI data crunch speeds towards Napster moment
The free lunch will come to an end for artificial intelligence in 2026. Over the past decade, developers from Google to Alibaba have largely been helping themselves to the internet buffet, devouring copyrighted material without permission or payment. Make no mistake, however: the bill is coming soon. Consider it AI’s Napster moment.ASCAP Faces $123M Lawsuit Over Production Music on News Radio
ASCAP is facing a lawsuit claiming it “severely underpays” for so-called production music used by talk and sports radio stations, wrongfully withholding more than $120 million in royalties from their rightful owners. The case claims ASCAP’s policies pay out royalties for only a fraction of the actual performances of such songs, which often play on news, talk or sports radio programs as background music or during segment transitions.
Source: ASCAP Faces $123M Lawsuit Over Production Music on News Radio: ‘Financially Devastating’
The UK’s PRS for Music reports largest-ever quarterly royalty payout at $368m, up 4% YoY
PRS paid out GBP £274.9 million (USD $367.6 million) at the current exchange rate) to songwriters, composers and music publishers in December, a 4% increase over the same period a year earlier. In all, 51,500 PRS members will receive a payment this quarter, among them 400 songwriters and composers who will receive royalties for the first time.
Source: The UK’s PRS for Music reports largest-ever quarterly royalty payout at $368m, up 4% YoY
Creative Commons announces tentative support for AI ‘pay-to-crawl’ systems
After announcing earlier this year a framework for an open AI ecosystem, the nonprofit Creative Commons has come out in favor of “pay-to-crawl” technology — a system to automate compensation of website content when accessed by machines, like AI web crawlers. In July, the organization announced a plan to provide a legal and technical framework for dataset sharing between companies that control the data and the AI providers that want to train on it.
Source: Creative Commons announces tentative support for AI ‘pay-to-crawl’ systems | TechCrunch