On the heels of Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet’s report last week of criminal gangs using Spotify’s royalty system to launder money through artificially inflated stream counts, a new report from the Financial Times has prompted further industry conjecture about the legitimacy of DSP stream counts. Although few would argue against the simplicity introduced by Spotify’s initial financial model upon its 2011 debut in the US the distribution of that money back to the artists has long been a hotly debated topic.
Rights
Spotify Says ’30-Second’ Royalty Scam Plays Trick Doesn’t Work
Financial analysts at JP Morgan estimated someone could make $1,200 a month in royalties by playing a track they owned for at least 30 seconds at a time—24 hours a day. But Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says that kind of rigging the system isn’t possible because that’s not how the system works. “If that were true, my own playlist would just be ‘Daniel’s 30-second Jam’ on repeat!” Daniel Ek tweeted in response to the report.
Source: Spotify Says ’30-Second’ Royalty Scam Plays Trick Doesn’t Work
US Copyright Office Rejects Yet Another AI-Generated Image
An award-winning image created by artist Jason M. Allen with the generative AI platform Midjourney is the latest to be denied copyright protection by the US Copyright Office. The office said on Tuesday, September 5, that Allen’s image, the science fiction-themed “Theatre D’opera Spatial,” was not entitled to copyright protection due to the AI-generated elements of the work.
Source: US Copyright Office Rejects Yet Another AI-Generated Image
Songtrust Suspended by PRS, SACEM, ICE Over Fraudulent Accounts
Downtown Music Holdings-owned Songtrust faced serious and extended suspensions from major rights societies PRS for Music, SACEM, and the collective ICE over a rash of fraudulent and problematic accounts, multiple sources relay. The suspensions, which robbed member songwriters and rightsholders of substantial royalties, or at least substantially delayed their delivery, appeared to have started in 2021 and were only resolved after substantial client purges and revamped processes were implemented.
Source: Songtrust Suspended by PRS, SACEM, ICE Over Fraudulent Accounts
Grammys Intelligently Ban Artificial Intelligence From Awards Eligibility
Source: Grammys Intelligently Ban Artificial Intelligence From Awards Eligibility
Story Protocol Launches IP Ownership Network with $54 Million in Funding
Story Protocol, a network that’s billed as an open-source solution for creators and intellectual property in an increasingly digital age, announced its launch on Wednesday with over $54 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. “In a world of total abundance catalyzed by generative AI, blockchain technology presents the perfect solution for transparent provenance tracking and fair attribution,” said Story Protocol Co-Founder Seung Yoon Lee in a press release.
Source: Story Protocol Launches IP Ownership Network with $54 Million in Funding – Decrypt
On Deezer nuzzling up to Universal’s ‘artist-centric’ model, and a controversial tweak
Today’s announcement was notable not only for Deezer officially canoodling with UMG’s preferred model, but because, for the first time – following months of rumors – we got a solid idea of what ‘user-centric’ actually is, and may become. To summarize, as we stand, Deezer’s version of the ‘artist-centric’ royalty model involves three key elements:
A Book Is a Book Is a Book—Except When It’s an e-Book
After the decision in March, the litigants in the Internet Archive suit began preparing for an appeal. But in the final order filed on August 11, Judge Koeltl delivered a shock ruling that fell far short of granting the publishers the remedies they’d originally sought. For now, the Open Library will have to stop loaning only those ebooks for which the publishers are offering their own “competing” ebooks for license.
Source: A Book Is a Book Is a Book—Except When It’s an e-Book
Deezer readies ‘artist-centric’ model with Universal Music Group
Deezer and UMG have announced the launch of what they call the “first comprehensive artist-centric streaming model”, designed, according to the companies “to better reward the artists, and the music that fans value the most”. According to the Financial Times the model is expected by UMG and Deezer to “lift payouts to professional artists by 10 per cent”.
The Battle Over Books3 Could Change AI Forever
Books3 started as a passion project by a Midwestern guy going through a weird time. “I poured my soul into the work,” he says. He saw it as aligned with the open source movement, a way to democratize access to the kind of data sets OpenAI was already using. Copyright activists are on a mission to wipe the popular generative AI training set from the internet. Success could alter the industry—and who controls it.