Rights

The AFM just recently submitted its first amended complaint, which arrives on the heels of an ugly exchange over the relevant labor contract provision. And as many know, said provision pertains to the “new use” of recordings featuring the work of AFM musicians. In the union’s view, the defendant majors’ gen AI licensing deals with Udio and Suno fall squarely into the new use category; the AFM members who contributed to the involved tracks are therefore allegedly entitled to compensation.

Source: AFM Fires Off Amended AI Licensing Lawsuit Against Universal Music and Warner Music

A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on ‌artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s landmark $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by a group of authors who accused it of misusing their books to train its AI chatbot Claude. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval of the settlement, the largest known ​settlement of a U.S. copyright case, rejecting arguments that it was too small.

Source: US judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement of copyright lawsuit

ABBA member and CISAC president Björn Ulvaeus took the stage at the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva on Monday (July 13) to ask a simple question: “Good for whom?” “Tracing the output was always the wrong question,” he said. “The right question is much simpler. It is about the training. Our works went in. We should be paid for what went in, not for every output that comes out the other end, but for the raw material that made the machine what it is.”

Source: ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus Talks AI Training at UNSummit: Artists ‘Deserve a Place at the Table’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives against misuse of their work by artificial intelligence models, warning it would be “theft” if writers, artists and musicians didn’t have control of their work or receive payment for its use. “Let me make this crystal clear: not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs,” Albanese said on Wednesday. “Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work. Our laws will spell that out, plain as day.”

Source: Australia establishes AI office and vows to protect creatives from copyright ‘theft’

Phonorecords V is the latest installment in a five-yearly cycle in which the Board sets the statutory mechanical rate under Section 115 of the US Copyright Act – the royalty owed each time a song is reproduced and distributed, from a vinyl pressing to a download. The settlement was filed on June 29 by the three major record companies, indie labels, and the industry’s main publisher and songwriter bodies.

Source: CRB proposes extending physical and download mechanical rates through 2032

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to deliver a major speech on Wednesday about the government’s plans for regulating and capitalising on the nascent technology. After abandoning the former industry minister Ed Husic’s vision for a dedicated AI act in favour of a hands-off approach to regulation, the government is reportedly set to pivot back to a more interventionist strategy.

Source: AI companies want to water down Australia’s copyright laws.