The talent agency WME announced a partnership with the technology firm Vermillio on Tuesday that it hopes will protect its clients from having their likenesses misused through artificial intelligence technology. Vermillio has created a platform, Trace ID, that could insulate WME clients from thefts of their likeness and intellectual property by using A.I. technology to track images.
Source: Using A.I., Hollywood Agency and Tech Start-Up Aim to Protect Artists
Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D beats an infringement lawsuit over a Miles Davis tattoo she inked in 2017. Kat Von D, celebrity tattoo artist and former cosmetics mogul, won a legal battle in federal court last week when a jury ruled that her tattoo reproducing a photo of jazz musician Miles Davis did not violate copyright law. The trial began in Los Angeles last week.
Source: Kat Von D Beats Infringement Lawsuit Over Miles Davis Tattoo
Nightshade, a new, free downloadable tool created by computer science researchers at the University of Chicago designed to be used by artists to disrupt AI models scraping and training on their artworks without consent, has received 250,000 downloads in the first five days of its release. It’s a strong start for the free tool, and shows a robust appetite among some artists to protect their work from being used to train AI without consent.
Source: AI poisoning tool Nightshade received 250,000 downloads in 5 days: ‘beyond anything we imagined’
The legal disputes around the development of AI are serious business. But when thinking of these suits, an old adage comes to mind: this isn’t about justice, this is about the law. And the legal questions swirling around AI in this moment are less about what’s broadly fair and more specifically about fair use—which, to many authors and publishers, is only sometimes fair.
The estate of comedy legend George Carlin has filed a lawsuit against the makers of an hour-long video featuring a version of him made using artificial intelligence, accusing them of stealing “a great American artist’s work.” A voice sounding remarkably like the comedian, who died of heart failure in 2008, appears on a “comedy special” titled “George Carlin: I’m glad I’m dead,” which was uploaded to YouTube earlier this month by the Dudesy channel.
Source: George Carlin’s estate sues over AI-generated stand-up special titled ‘I’m glad I’m dead’
While some of the major labels are touting YouTube as an important partner in the evolving world of music and AI, not everyone in the music industry has been as enthusiastic about these new efforts. That’s because Google trained its model on a large set of music — including copyrighted major-label recordings — and then went to show it to rights holders, rather than asking permission first.
Source: Google Trained Its AI on Copyrighted Music, Sources Say — Now It’s Trying to Make Deals
For decades, the Copyright Office has been a small and sleepy office within the Library of Congress. In recent months, however, the office has suddenly found itself in the spotlight. Thousands of artists, musicians and tech executives have written to the agency, and hundreds have asked to speak at listening sessions hosted by the office. The attention stems from a first-of-its-kind review of copyright law that the Copyright Office is conducting in the age of artificial intelligence.
Source: The Sleepy Copyright Office in the Middle of a High-Stakes Clash Over A.I.
A trial underway in California could determine whether a tattoo based on a copyrighted image is a copyright violation. The case has potentially large implications for IP-centered industries such as the music business, which in recent years has increasingly focused on “name and likeness” rights in contracts and acquisitions. The case could also have implications for bodily autonomy and free expression – given that the tattoo in question has been indelibly stamped onto the arm of Blake Farmer, a friend of tatoo artist Kat Von D.
Source: Should photographers and rightsholders get paid when tattoo artists ink pictures of music icons?
The CISAC President and ABBA founder called for sustained support for copyright and the protection of creators by the European Union as Belgium takes the six-month presidency of the EU. Belgium will be overseeing discussions to finalize the text of the EU AI act. Ulvaeus urged the establishment of proper transparency principles in the EU AI Act and to require AI operators to adhere to copyright regulations.
Source: CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus Seeks Greater AI Protections
Blockchains with royalties embedded within their code can guarantee that creator royalties will be respected, according to professionals working in Web3. While some platforms continue to hop on the optional royalty trend, others are going the other way, implementing built-in royalty enforcement tools within their blockchains. In June 2023, NFT-focused blockchain platform Enjin released a blockchain mainnet with royalty enforcement embedded in the blockchain’s foundational code.
Source: Royalty-embedded blockchains can help NFT artists get paid