Spotify may have made it easier than ever for us to listen to an enormous trove of music, but it extracted so much money in doing so that it impoverished musicians. Now the company is turning its attention to books with a new offering. It will do the same thing to writers, whose audiobooks Spotify has begun streaming in a new and more damaging way.
Rights
Songwriters Earn 2024 Cost of Living Adjustment for Physical and Digital Sales
Songwriter royalties will get a cost of living increase for music sales beginning in 2024 for vinyl, CD, cassette and digital downloads. According to a new document, published Tuesday (Dec. 12), the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) upped the U.S. statutory mechanical royalty rate from the current rate of 12 cents to 12.40 cents if the song has a run time of five minutes or less. (If over five minutes, the rate is 2.39 cents per minute.)
Source: Songwriters Earn 2024 Cost of Living Adjustment for Physical and Digital Sales
UK Council of Music Makers ups pressure on music remuneration
The UK’s parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming isn’t done just yet. It held an oral evidence session Tuesday morning. with guests including Nile Rodgers, Merck Mercuriadis, MPA boss Paul Clements and artist VV Brown. They were talking ‘creator remuneration’, and ahead of the session the UK’s Council of Music Makers – an umbrella body for the organisations representing artists, songwriters, producers and managers – gave the pot a good stir.
Source: UK Council of Music Makers ups pressure on music remuneration – Music Ally
Hipgnosis Completes 20,000-Song Selloff — At a Steep Discount
Hipgnosis Songs Fund has completed a 20,000-song selloff, but the involved price tag represents a steep discount to the works’ valuation. In an announcement to the market on Monday (December 11), HSF said that “these non-core songs, which are a subset of those identified as the Second Disposal as set out in September, were bundled with the iconic Songs acquired by the Company in 2020 as part of Kobalt Fund One“.
Source: Hipgnosis Completes 20,000-Song Selloff — At a Steep Discount
Europe’s New ‘Historic’ AI Law Divides Tech Companies and Civil Rights Groups
Companies impacted by the AI Act are expected to challenge some of its provisions in the courts, which could further delay implementation across the continent. “There’s a lot for businesses to consider,” noted Ireland-based AI legal expert Barry Scannell in a post following Friday’s vote, noting that “enhanced transparency requirements” may challenge “the protection of intellectual property,” requiring “major strategic shifts” from firms using artificial intelligence systems.
Source: Europe’s New “Historic” AI Law Divides Tech Companies and Civil Rights Groups
GEMA and IFPI ‘welcome the progress’ on EU’s landmark agreement on AI regulation
The agreement was welcomed by music industry bodies GEMA, the Germany-based collecting society and performance rights organization, and IFPI, the global organization representing the recorded music industry. “The results we now have on the table are a step in the right direction but need to be sharpened further on a technical level,” GEMA said. “The outcome must be a clearly formulated transparency regime that obliges AI providers to submit detailed evidence on the contents they used to train their systems.”
Source: GEMA and IFPI ‘welcome the progress’ on EU’s landmark agreement on AI regulation
ASCAP Reiterates Call for AI Licensing, Likeness Protections in USCO Filing
In new AI comments submitted to the Copyright Office, ASCAP doubled down on its support for direct licensing and likeness protections. “[A]rmchair speculations about the efficiency of licensing do not justify a rampant disregard for creators’ rights,” the PRO said. “As they have done countless times in the past, licensing models will adapt to the evolving technical environment to ensure that creators are compensated for the use of their intellectual property.”
Source: ASCAP Calls for AI Licensing, Likeness Protections in USCO Filing
AAP Calls Big Tech’s AI Arguments ‘Nonsense’
In comments submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office this week, the Association of American Publishers slammed assertions by the tech industry that fair use permits AI developers to use copyrighted works to train their systems without permission or compensation. In the 15-page document, the AAP offered a blunt characterization of tech companies that, in their initial comments, asserted that “the rights of authors and publishers are an obstacle to innovation,” calling such claims “nonsense.”
EU Reaches Provisional Deal on AI Act, Setting Transparency and Enforcement Guidelines
For the entertainment industry, the most crucial aspect when it comes to AI is the requirement for transparency when using generative AI or copyright-protected work. Véronique Desbrosses, GESAC’s managing director, indeed called for a “a robust implementation” of “transparency requirements and respect for EU copyright rules applicable to all models.”
Source: European Union Reaches Provisional Deal on AI Act, Setting Transparency and Enforcement Guidelines
News Publishers Are Fighting Big Tech Over Peanuts. They Could Be Owed Billions (Opinion)
Last week, after months of hardball negotiations, Google and the Canadian government agreed on a deal that would require the company to pay Canadian news outlets about $73.5 million a year. Canadians are no longer facing the threat that Google would remove all news content from its search results. The settlement is far less than Canada wanted — it had sought $126 million — and a small fraction of the estimated $550 million that news publishers deserve from Google
Source: Opinion | News Publishers Are Fighting Big Tech Over Peanuts. They Could Be Owed Billions.