Rights

Adobe’s Firefly AI is getting competition at the worst time

For a hot second there, Adobe enjoyed a unique niche within the generative AI industry thanks to its Firefly AI and Stock image hosting platform, which was trained on the company’s proprietary and “commercially safe” dataset of licensed images. Now, Getty Images is getting in on the game and launching a rival model. PicsArt, the AI-powered online image and video-editing service, announced that it will be partnering with Getty to build and train a generative AI based on Getty’s exclusive library of photo and video content.

Source: Adobe’s Firefly AI is getting competition at the worst time | Digital Trends

Democrat and Republican lawmakers unite to question Spotify bundle move 

In a letter addressed to Shira Perlmutter, the US Register of Copyrights, Congressmen Ted Lieu (D) and Adam Schiff (D), plus Senator Marsha Blackburn (R), raised questions about whether Spotify’s new practice is in line with the spirit of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018. The bipartisan group of lawmakers highlighted the long-standing challenges faced by songwriters in receiving fair compensation under the compulsory licensing system.

Source: Democrat and Republican lawmakers unite to question Spotify bundle move that ‘sharply reduces royalty payments for songwriters’

Musical AI unveils new platform for ethical use of copyrighted material in generative AI

Musical AI, formerly known as Somms.ai, has launched a new rights management platform designed to allow proper attribution and compensation for the use of copyrighted works in AI training and generation. The platform addresses a growing concern in the AI space: the lack of a system for attributing and licensing copyrighted material used to train AI models, said Musical AI on Wednesday (June 12).

Source: Musical AI, formerly Somms.ai, unveils new platform for ethical use of copyrighted material in generative AI

Meta halts plans to train AI on Facebook, Instagram posts in EU

Meta has apparently paused plans to process mounds of user data to bring new AI experiences to Europe. The decision comes after data regulators rebuffed the tech giant’s claims that it had “legitimate interests” in processing European Union- and European Economic Area (EEA)-based Facebook and Instagram users’ data—including personal posts and pictures—to train future AI tools.

Source: Meta halts plans to train AI on Facebook, Instagram posts in EU

How Low Will Spotify’s Royalty Payments Go?

Spotify’s ‘bundle-pocalyse’ is nigh, with nervous IP owners pouring through early royalty statements to assess the damage. One source noted that the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) has already distributed preliminary reports for March, the month that marks the beginning of Spotify’s massive royalty cuts to music publishers, songwriters, and other compositional IP owners. Apparently, the data isn’t fully baked yet, though rights owners are getting a preview of the carnage.

Source: How Low Will Spotify’s Royalty Payments Go?

Everyone Agrees on the Need to Do Something about Deepfakes, Just Not how to Do It

The BSA Software Alliance, among the heavy hitting tech industry associations in Washington, counts a number of major AI companies among its members, including Adobe and Microsoft. But this week it plans to release a policy statement urging Congress to “take steps” to protect artists from the spread of unauthorized, AI-generated deepfakes. The statement, provided to RightsTech in advance of release, lists eight key principles, including creating a new right for artists to authorize or prevent the commercial dissemination of digital replicas of their name, image, likeness or voice, and prohibiting the commercial trafficking in any algorithm, software, technology or service that has the “primary purpose” of creating or disseminating such replica “knowing that this act was unauthorized.”

Adobe Revising Terms of Use to Clarify Content Licensing, AI, and Privacy

The confusion and anger surrounding an Adobe Terms of Use update last week caused Adobe to revisit its language and communications at large. Beyond a blog post late last week, Adobe today published another blog post, announcing plans for direct communications with customers and an updated Terms of Use.

Source: Adobe Revising Terms of Use to Clarify Content Licensing, AI, and Privacy

Human Native AI is building the marketplace for AI training licensing deals

OpenAI’s licensing deals with The Atlantic and Vox last week show that both sides of the table are interested in landing these AI-training content licensing agreements. Human Native AI is a London-based startup building a marketplace to broker such deals between the many companies building LLM projects and those willing to license data to them.

Source: Deal Dive: Human Native AI is building the marketplace for AI training licensing deals | TechCrunch

Sony, Universal, Warner and Merlin strike deals with Twitch for DJ livestreams

Twitch has struck deals with all three major music companies, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music, and a large number of independent labels via Merlin. According to Twitch, since early 2020, the number of DJs streaming on the service has more than quadrupled and that “over 15,000 of them

Source: Sony, Universal, Warner and Merlin strike music licensing deals with Twitch for DJ livestreams

Merlin launches ‘Merlin Connect’ to provide tech platforms with licensed indie music

While AI can produce generic music, many critics argue that it lacks the originality of human-created works. Merlin Connect seeks to address this by providing emerging tech platforms with access to a vast library of “high-quality” music from independent artists, the organization said Wednesday (June 5).

Source: Merlin launches ‘Merlin Connect’ to provide tech platforms with licensed indie music

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