To date, more than two dozen content owner deals with AI developers have been publicly confirmed, according to VIP+ research. A diverse range of publisher types are now engaged in licensing, with dealmaking rampant among news publishers, stock image companies and platforms such as Reddit and Stack Overflow. Yet the licensing market for generative AI is coming to fruition in a contentious and uncertain legal environment.
Rights
An author has questions on his publisher’s AI deal (opinion)
Informa, the academic publishing powerhouse and parent company of Routledge and Taylor & Francis, recently announced a deal with Microsoft that will feed a massive body of scholarly work to a generative AI system. If Informa’s decision portends a wave of similar deals between scholarly publishers and generative AI companies, the troubling precedent this sets could result in significant changes to the nature of academic publishing.
Source: An author has questions on his publisher’s AI deal (opinion)
Court Rules Against Photographer Who Sued AI Dataset for Copyright Theft
A German court has ruled against a photographer who sued the AI image dataset company LAION in a case that could have big implications. The dispute between the two parties wound up in the Hamburg Regional Court where on Friday the court ruled that LAION benefited from the exception of copyright infringement under Section 60(d) of Germany copyright law. A proviso that allows privileged research organizations to reproduce works even if granted an opt-out by the author of the work,
Source: Court Rules Against Photographer Who Sued AI Dataset for Copyright Theft
YouTube strikes deal with SESAC following licensing dispute
YouTube said in a statement published via social media over the weekend its deal with SESAC had “expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts”. That dispute has now been resolved. SESAC said today (September 30) that it has struck a deal with YouTube “to equitably compensate SESAC’s songwriters and publishers for the use of their music”.
Author of AI-Generated Work Rejected by Copyright Office Says Lack of Protection Has Crushed Him
Jason Allen, the author of the two-dimensional artwork, titled “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” which was rejected by the U.S. Copyright Office last year, has filed a request for declaratory judgment asking a district court to find that his work is eligible for copyright registration.
Source: Author of AI-Generated Work Rejected by Copyright Office Says Lack of Protection Has Crushed Him
AllTrack Launches Performing Rights API Tools for Royalty Tracking
Performing rights organization AllTrack, built to serve the independent sector, has launched a suite of APIs that are now available to creator-centric platforms like streaming services, UGC platforms, distributors, and publishing administrators. In a first-of-its-kind integration between a streaming service and a PRO, TIDAL recently became the first platform to integrate AllTrack’s APIs.
Source: AllTrack Launches Performing Rights API Tools for Royalty Tracking
TikTok Music to Shut Down in November After Launching in 2023
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ikTok Music is officially set to cease operating on November 28th, 2024, after launching in 2023, TikTok has announced. Absent from TikTok Music’s website is any mention of the precise cause(s) of the shutdown.
However, it’s possible that licensing problems (or at least friction) of some sort contributed to the decision. TikTok set its standalone streaming ambitions in motion in 2022, and even back then, reports suggested the majors were concerned with the service’s monetization potential.
Source: TikTok Music to Shut Down in November After Launching in 2023
Daily Mail CEO on Google lawsuits, AI and why future of news is bright
DMG Media chief executive Rich Caccappolo has said that monopoly lawsuits against Google and the prospect of new UK tech regulation could bring huge benefits to news publishers. Speaking at the Press Gazette Future of Media Technology Conference in London this month, Caccappolo said he expects the major tech companies in the UK media market to get designated as having “strategic market status” by December this year.
Source: Daily Mail CEO on Google lawsuits, AI and why future of news is bright
EU Copyright Directive finally implemented in all its countries
The European Union’s Copyright Directive was approved in 2019. Five years later, it is finally being implemented across the EU, with Poland the final member state to do the necessaries. Before it was passed in 2019 there was a bitter lobbying battle between some tech firms and the music industry over its provisions around safe harbors and rights enforcement – the infamous Article 17 of the directive. It was the peak of the ‘value gap’ conflict between rightsholders and YouTube.
Source: EU Copyright Directive finally implemented in all its countries
SoundExchange signals plans for AI registry for music creators
Music rightsholders want AI-music companies to ask permission and strike licensing deals before training their models on commercial recordings. Now US firm SoundExchange has announced plans to launch a registry of sound recordings that will give AI companies a clear picture of what they can and can’t use for their training processes. It will launch in the first quarter of 2025, built using its existing ISRC (international standard recording code) database.
Source: SoundExchange signals plans for AI registry for music creators