Rights

News/Media Alliance Partners with Bria AI to Launch AI Licensing Agreement

The News/Media Alliance (NMA), representing around 2,200 news, magazine, and digital media organizations, has partnered with Bria to let NMA members opt into an AI licensing agreement that would see them compensated for the use of their content in AI systems. This partnership will also form the foundation for a new Bria product in development – designed to ensure reliable, grounded AI-generated outputs based on participating publishers’ owned content.

Source: News/Media Alliance Partners with Bria AI to Launch AI Licensing Agreement

Sony Music has targeted 135,000+ deepfakes for removal from streaming platforms

Sony says the 135,000 tracks it has identified so far are likely only a fraction of what has actually been uploaded. Since last March 2025 alone, the company flagged roughly 60,000 songs falsely attributed to artists from its roster, according to the report. In a submission to the government’s consultation on AI and copyright law, obtained by the Financial Times and The Sunday Times at the time, Sony flagged more than 75,000 AI-generated deepfakes.

Source: Sony Music has targeted 135,000+ deepfakes for removal from streaming platforms

First-Ever US Streaming Music Fraud Case Ends In a Guilty Plea

On Thursday, Michael Smith, the man accused of defrauding music streaming services with AI-generated slop tracks, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Smith agreed to pay back the $8,091,843.64 he received in royalties from the streamers, and his charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. “Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times,” said Jay Clayton, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Source: First-Ever US Streaming Music Fraud Case Ends In a Guilty Plea

Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sues tech companies over AI training

The publisher said that Apple, Google, Nvidia, Meta Platforms , OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity ‌AI and Elon Musk’s xAI used pirated copies of its books to teach their chatbots to respond to human prompts. The publisher’s complaint is unique in targeting several tech juggernauts at once. The lawsuit was filed by ​attorneys at law firm Freedman Normand Friedland, who have brought a similar ongoing case ​against Big Tech companies on behalf of writer John Carreyrou and other ⁠authors.

Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sues tech companies over AI training

American Law Institute’s ‘Copyright Restatement’ Project Faces Growing Opposition

In opposition to the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Copyright Restatement and to highlight its “significant inaccuracies, omissions, and mischaracterizations of copyright law,” the Copyright Restatement Transparency Project (CRTP) has announced that its petition to raise awareness has surpassed 500 signatures. The CRTP was formed by members of the copyright and creative communities, including individuals and organizations that participated in the Copyright Restatement for years but ultimately resigned from the project in its final stages. 

Source: American Law Institute’s ‘Copyright Restatement’ Project Faces Growing Opposition

The dictionary sues OpenAI

Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging in its complaint that the AI giant has committed “massive copyright infringement.” Britannica, which owns Merriam-Webster, retains the copyright to nearly 100,000 online articles, which have been scraped and used to train OpenAI’s LLMs without permission, the publisher alleges in the lawsuit.

Source: The dictionary sues OpenAI

UK Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry from major artists

The UK government has backtracked on its position on copyright and AI, stating it must take time to “get this right”. Its original position – allowing AI companies to use copyrighted works to train their models with an opt-out option – received major backlash from the likes of Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa. “We have listened,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said on Wednesday, saying the government no longer favours that approach.

Source: UK Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry from major artists

Quincy Jones estate sells catalog and ancillary rights to HarbourView

HarbourView said that the deal includes Jones’ recorded music and publishing assets, as well as other ancillary rights, including his participation in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As part of the transaction, HarbourView notes that it will “work in close partnership with the Quincy Jones Estate on go-forward initiatives tied to Jones’ name, image, and likeness”. HarbourView said that “additional announcements and tributes will follow in the coming weeks 

Source: Quincy Jones estate sells catalog and ancillary rights to HarbourView

AI Registry to Protect Athlete Likenesses and Digital IP Launched

Callandor Group has unveiled what it describes as the first dedicated registry for sports intellectual property in the AI era: a platform designed to give athletes and sports organizations the tools to manage, protect and profit from their digital identities, which the company says are increasingly being absorbed into AI systems without compensation or consent.

Source: AI Registry to Protect Athlete Likenesses and Digital IP Launched

ByteDance suspends launch of video AI model after copyright disputes (Report)

Source: ByteDance suspends launch of video AI model after copyright disputes (Report)

TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, has put on hold the global launch of its latest video-generation model, Seedance ​2.0, after a series of copyright disputes with major Hollywood studios ‌and streaming platforms, The Information reported on Saturday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the situation. ByteDance said last month it would take steps to prevent ​the unauthorized use of intellectual property on its AI video generator ⁠Seedance 2.0, following threats of legal action from U.S. studios, including Disney

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