As the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes continue to stall production on film and television projects, state and federal legislators are drafting bills to protect performers from the use of artificial intelligence to replace them. In New York, Senate Bill S7422, and Assembly Bill A7634, would prohibit production companies seeking the the Empire State Film Production Credit from using AI in place of people.
Source: New York Bill Would Protect Writers and Actors From Being Replaced by AI – Decrypt
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last week to uphold the Copyright Royalty Board’s Web V rate determination, published in the Federal Register on Oc. 27, 2021. That determination, which impacts non-interactive, programmed plays on digital radio like Pandora and iHeartRadio, set inflation-adjusted rates at $.0026 per paid subscription stream, up from $0.0024 cents. For ad-supported streams, the CRB set a rate of $0.0021, up from $0.0018 per play.Source: Copyright Royalty Board Upholds Rate Increase for Internet Radio
Barcelona-based private music copyright management organization Unison has introduced SOLO, a global management platform for digital rights. SOLO will provide artists and creators with professional tools to manage their digital rights, offering solutions for both copyright and master rights, all without intermediaries, according to a press release last week (July 26).
Source: Spain’s Unison launches global management platform for digital rights, SOLO
Five-year-old Superplastic, which bills itself as the creator and manager of “a roster of world famous synthetic artists and influencers,” recently emailed DMN about the Virgin tie-up and the resulting label. Two of the business’s ostensibly world-famous synthetic artists, “brothers Filth-E and Lil’ ILL,” make up “the first 3D animated hip-hop duo,” Ghost Kidz, according to Burlington, Vermont-headquartered Superplastic.
Source: Superplastic Records Launches With Support From UMG’s Virgin
This partnership brings Songtradr’s music service, Pretzel, to Twitch streamers, offering what it says is “a treasure trove of licensed music to enhance their streams”. Through this partnership with Songtradr, Twitch streamers will have access to Pretzel’s Premium Subscription tier for 90 days until September 15, giving them free trial access to over 550,000 “Twitch-safe” tracks.
Source: Songtradr partners with Twitch to bring licensed music from Pretzel to Twitch streamers
Songwriter organizations are urging congressional action on Mechanical Licensing Collective ‘black box’ royalties. Among those who appeared before a House subcommittee were MLC CEO Kris Ahrend, and predictably, covered topics included the “black box” unmatched royalties held by the MMA-created MLC. Beforehand, the MLC had refused to disclose the precise amount of undistributed creator compensation in its possession, with reports and documents suggesting that the figure could be approaching a cool $1 billion.
Source: Songwriter Groups Urge Lawmaker Action on MLC ‘Black Box’
The first group of artists to bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Stable Diffusion-developer Stability AI, along with Midjourney and DeviantArt, suffered a setback in court last week when a federal district court judge in San Francisco indicated he is likely to dismiss most of the charges in the case, albeit while leaving the door open for the plaintiffs to file a new complaint.
The music industry is preparing for its latest policy battle in Europe, and it’s focused on artificial intelligence. Specifically, on the European Union’s proposed AI Act, which is now going through the ‘trilogue‘ negotiations process, which is where three key institutions in Europe – the European Parliament, European Council and European Commission – hammer out the details of new laws, while being assailed from all sides by lobbyists hoping to influence the final legislation.
Source: Music rightsholders flex lobbying muscles for the EU’s AI Act – Music Ally
As labor disputes in Hollywood over the use of generative AI technology has brought film and TV production to a halt, groups representing collective rights management organizations for authors, composers and performers are looking to bring their case to halls of governments around the world. On Thursday (July 20) a group of 10 organizations including CISAC, ECSA and SCAPR, released an open letter spelling out seven principles they are asking policymakers to commit to as they adopt policies and legislation regarding AI.
Five Asian collection societies and SESAC Music Group have entered into what they call a “historic collaboration for the music industry in Asia”. The group of societies have formed The Asian Alliance Music Rights Organization (AAMRO), a music rights hub established to manage music licensing and royalty distribution of the combined repertories of FILSCAP (Philippines), WAMI (Indonesia), MACP (Malaysia), MCT (Thailand), and VCPMC (Vietnam).