Amazon will begin inviting a small group of Audible narrators to train AI-generated voice clones of themselves this week, with the aim of speeding up audiobook production for the platform. The US-only beta test was announced on Audible’s creator marketplace and will be extended to rights holders like authors, agents, and publishers “later this year,” according to Amazon.
Source: Amazon is allowing Audible narrators to clone themselves with AI
Given the labels’ dominance of the negotiating hierarchy, song rights revenue can never top 20% of the finite streaming revenue pot. Subscriber rate hikes mean the pot gets bigger (which Spotify and the labels love), but the song share of the pot doesn’t change. Against that reality, direct licensing of mechanicals won’t fix anything. It runs contrary to all principles of copyright law.
In a blog post on Thursday (September 5), the video platform said it’s working on a “synthetic-singing identification technology” that will enable YouTube partners to automatically detect content that simulates singing voices. YouTube also said it’s working on a tool that will allow people from various industries, including musicians, actors, athletes and content creators, to “detect and manage” AI-generated content that shows their faces.
Source: YouTube is developing tools to detect AI-generated voices and faces in videos
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has dealt a blow to the Internet Archive’s digital book lending program. The court upheld a lower court’s decision, stating that IA’s practice of scanning and lending copyrighted books without permission is not fair use. IA’s lending program directly threatens the revenues of publishers and violates copyright law, the judges ruled.
Source: Internet Archive Loses Landmark E-Book Lending Copyright Appeal Against Publishers * TorrentFreak
Spotify has moved to dismiss with prejudice an unpaid-royalties lawsuit filed against it by the MLC over sweeping bundling reclassifications. “At the heart of this dispute is an easily answered question: Is audiobook streaming distinct from music streaming, offering greater than token value?” the motion sums up. “The answer is indisputably yes, and there is no need for federal court litigation to confirm it.”
Source: Spotify Asks Court to Toss MLC Bundling & Royalties Lawsuit
A bill to protect performers from unauthorized AI replicas was approved by the California Senate on Tuesday and will soon head to the governor’s desk. SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, has made the bill one of its top legislative priorities this year. AB 2602 would require explicit consent for the use of a “digital replica” of a performer.
Source: SAG-AFTRA Wins Passage of California Bill to Limit AI Replicas
The passage of AB 1836, which now awaits the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom, comes four days after the state Senate passed AB 2602, which toughens the consent requirements for the use of AI to replicate living performers. “For those who would use the digital replicas of deceased performers in films, TV shows, videogames, audiobooks, sound recordings and more, without first getting the consent of those performers’ estates, the California Senate just said NO,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.
Source: California Passes Law Requiring Consent for AI Digital Replicas of Dead Performers
SGA, MCNA, and the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) today reached out with a formal release doubling down on demands for “much-needed operational and structural improvements” to the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Those improvements were most recently described by Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) in a letter to Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter late last month.
Source: Federal Lawmaker Urges Mechanical Licensing Collective Reforms
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors & Composers (CISAC) has integrated AllTrack with its exclusive data exchange tools. AllTrack has joined ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC as fellow U.S.-based PROs affiliated with CISAC. Common Information System tools has made it seamless for collection societies around the world to connect directly with AllTrack.
Within TIDAL Artist Home, songwriters will be able to organize their IPI, PRO and publisher information in one place. They’ll also be prompted to sign up for mechanical royalties through The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). Artists signing up with a PRO for the first time will be able to register with AllTrack. Songwriters will be able to view and manage their writing credits and metadata to ensure all their works are correctly matched and registered, helping them to earn money, TIDAL said.
Source: TIDAL launches tool for US songwriters to claim and manage their work