Rights

Hollywood writers say AI is ripping off their work. They want studios to sue

When the Writers Guild of America approved a contract with major studios in 2023, ending a 148-day strike, the union became the first bargaining group to gain significant guardrails around artificial intelligence in Hollywood. But as AI innovation continues to advance, writers say they need more protection from studios. Now, they’re urging entertainment companies to take legal action against AI firms that they allege are using writers’ work to train AI models without their permission.

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Source: Hollywood writers say AI is ripping off their work. They want studios to sue

DeepSeek launch underlines value of news content to AI companies

The release of the new R1 model by China-based AI start-up DeepSeek has a number of important implications for news publishers, cutting across the future economics of AI, the ability of IP holders to protect their rights and the risks that these technologies pose to the broader information ecosystem. DeepSeek’s training data was obtained without authorisation or even transparency; the crawlers it is using are undeclared, third-party or hidden.

Source: DeepSeek launch underlines value of news content to AI companies

AI crawler wars threaten to make the web more closed for everyone

Web publishers have responded to AI with a trifecta of lawsuits, legislation, and computer science. What began with a litany of copyright infringement suits, including one from the New York Times, has turned into a wave of restrictions on use of websites’ data, as well as legislation such as the EU AI Act to protect copyright holders’ ability to opt out of AI training.

Source: AI crawler wars threaten to make the web more closed for everyone

Thomson Reuters wins an early court battle over AI, copyright, and fair use

On Tuesday, US District Court of Delaware judge Stephanos Bibas issued a partial summary judgment in favor of Thomson Reuters in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup. Filed in 2020, it’s one of the first cases that will deal with the legality of AI tools and how they are trained, often using copyrighted data scraped from somewhere else without license or permission.

Source: Thomson Reuters wins an early court battle over AI, copyright, and fair use

AI Agents Are Now Trading IP Rights With Each Other

While artists worldwide have been complaining about AI stealing their work, Story Protocol believes it has come up with a solution. The platform has introduced a system that lets AI agents trade intellectual property rights with each other, turning them into paying customers for tokenized IP rights on the blockchain. If you can’t beat them, join them, as they say.

Source: AI Agents Are Now Trading IP Rights With Each Other—And Earning Crypto for Their Owners – Decrypt

DeepSeek is a wake-up call for the music industry – and its data goldmine

The DeepSeek R1 algorithm works. And it’s spreading. You can download the code, run it on your own server or PC, and see results that differ from those on Chinese-hosted versions. DeepSeek means that everyone, from researchers in São Paulo to start-ups in Stockholm and doctors in Nairobi, can access state-of-the-art AI at little to no cost. You just need a $2,000 machine with 512GB RAM to run DeepSeek R1 locally, generating 3.5–4 tokens per second.

Source: DeepSeek is a wake-up call for the music industry – and its data goldmine

AAP, IPA Join Groups Calling for AI to Respect Copyright

Thirty-eight international organizations representing creative industries—including the Association of American Publishers, under the auspices of the International Publishers Association—have released a joint statement calling for oversight and regulation of artificial intelligence development, focusing on respect for copyright and related intellectual property.

Source: AAP, IPA Join Groups Calling for AI to Respect Copyright

US Copyright Office launches inquiry into performance rights organizations

The USCO launched a call for written submissions from the public about the PROs in response to a letter sent by members of the House Judiciary Committee to the Copyright Office last September. The letter expressed concerns about the number of PROs in the US and the difficulties many businesses face in licensing music, given the need to sign blanket licensing agreements with numerous collections organizations.

Source: US Copyright Office launches inquiry into performance rights organizations

The New York Times Has Spent $10.8M In Its Legal Battle With OpenAI So Far

The newspaper company said it spent $10.8 million on costs associated with generative artificial intelligence litigation in 2024, according to its quarterly earnings filing on Wednesday. The Times, buoyed by its 11 million-plus paid subscribers to its newspaper and suite of products, is one of the few journalistic entities that can afford to engage in yearslong litigation with Big Tech.

Source: The New York Times Has Spent $10.8M In Its Legal Battle With OpenAI So Far

Spotify slams the NMPA’s takedown action: ‘This is a press stunt.’

Responding to the announcement on Tuesday, a Spotify spokesperson slammed the NMPA’s takedown action, calling the move “a weak reaction” to the court’s dismissal of the MLC’s ‘bundling’ lawsuit against Spotify last week. “The fact that the NMPA waited months, despite multiple written requests by Spotify for details, which they never bothered to answer, to report these episodes only further emphasizes that this is a press stunt.”

Source: Spotify slams the NMPA’s takedown action over alleged unlicensed songs in podcasts: ‘This is a press stunt.’

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