Rights

Google and other tech giants have called on the Australian government to relax copyright laws to allow artificial intelligence to mine websites for information across the internet. In a submission to the government’s review of copyright enforcement published this week, Google argued the government needs to consider whether copyright law has “the necessary flexibilities” to support the development of AI.

Source: Google calls for relaxing of Australia’s copyright laws so AI can mine websites for information

Just one day after Universal Music Group (UMG) forced the removal of an AI-generated “collaboration” between Drake and The Weeknd from YouTube and other platforms, duplicate versions of the unauthorized track are spreading like wildfire – and raising questions about how to effectively police artificial intelligence content moving forward.

Source: Unauthorized Drake, The Weeknd AI Track Spreads On YouTube

A new song believed to feature AI-generated fake vocals from Drake and The Weeknd that went viral over the weekend has been pulled from most streaming platforms after their label, Universal Music Group, released a statement Monday (April 17) condemning “infringing content created with generative AI.” By Monday afternoon, the song had generated more 600,000 spins on Spotify, and the TikTok videos had been viewed more than 15 million times.

Source: Fake Drake & The Weeknd Song — Made With AI — Pulled From Streaming After Going Viral

Under its just-detailed pact, Orfium is poised to provide “comprehensive” licensing coverage for PRS in Africa, extending to the continent’s public performances (live shows among them), radio, cable television, and “local and certain multinational online services,” the involved parties disclosed. Similarly, PRS’ Major Live Concert Service (MLCS) is set to become “available for events held across Africa.”

Source: Orfium, PRS for Music Unveil ‘Groundbreaking’ Africa Partnership

Artificial intelligence tools that generate text, images and music are moving art into new territory — and that’s raising tricky questions for the business of creativity. Lawmakers have begun to contemplate new rules around authorship and ownership in connection with creative machines, and the stakes are huge for both the businesses that depend on creative work and the investors who poured billions into new A.I. tools. So far, there are three major debates.

Source: Who Owns a Song Created by A.I.?

Snapchat has signed new music licensing deals with a number of music distributors and rightsholders across the globe to further expand its music library. “These partnerships will add local artists’ music to the Snapchat Sounds library, allowing Snapchatters more options to innovate and easily embed licensed music into their messages and Snaps across Snapchat’s platform and creative tools like augmented reality Lenses,” Snapchat said.

Source: Snapchat strikes new music licensing deals with UnitedMasters, BUMA/STEMRA and more

The U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) issued new guidance on AI-generated work following its recent decision to cancel a copyright registration for a comic book because of a failure to disclose and disclaim AI-generated images incorporated in it. This highlights a host of new issues that must be carefully managed as AI tools are adopted among those who rely on copyright, from individual creators to Fortune 500 companies.

Source: Generative AI: Takeaways for Diligence and Risk Mitigation in Creative Industries

Universal Music Group really IS flexing its corporate muscles to clamp down on AI-generated music – or at least, AI-generated music that it thinks has been trained on commercial music without a license. The Financial Times has reported on emails sent by UMG to music streaming services asking them to ‘cut off access to their music catalogue for developers using it to train AI technology’.

Source: Report: UMG wants DSPs to block unlicensed AI-training scraping – Music Ally

Z-Library appears to be shrugging off a criminal investigation as if nothing ever happened. The site continues to develop its shadow library and, following a successful fundraiser, now plans to expand its services to the physical book market. Z-Library envisions a book ‘sharing’ market, where its millions of users can pick up paperbacks at dedicated “Z-Points” around the globe.

Source: Z-Library Plans to Let Users Share Physical Books Through ‘Z-Points’ * TorrentFreak

A countersuit filed by Pandora against Word Collections and Spoken Giants has been dismissed with prejudice amid a wider licensing battle. This newest development in the high-profile legal battle just recently came to light in an almost 30-page-long order from Judge Mark C. Scarsi. In explaining the most recent dismissal decision, Judge Scarsi determined that Word Collections and Spoken Giants hadn’t in fact violated the first section of the Sherman Antitrust Act by coordinating to fix prices or to restrain trade via a series of competition-limiting exclusive agreements.

Source: Word Collections Beats Pandora Countersuit Amid Licensing Battle