At the end of 2023 it was beginning to look like AI images — a new and novel way of producing pictures — were an existential threat to photography. By the end of 2024, that threat had been extinguished somewhat. In 2023, AI images were winning prestigious photo competitions. In 2024, real photos were winning AI image competitions.
AI Images in 2024: Photography Strikes Back
Is Amazon Music Plotting a 1,000-Stream Minimum for Royalties?
Is Amazon Music joining Spotify in establishing a 1,000-stream minimum before tracks can generate recording royalties? The question is front of mind – even if a concrete answer isn’t readily available – following the announcement of an “artist-centric” Universal Music deal. Amazon Music and UMG revealed that bolstered deal on Monday, pointing to a variety of components, the most interesting being the planned joint “advancement of artist-centric principles.”
Source: Is Amazon Music Plotting a 1,000-Stream Minimum for Royalties?
Music Publishers Reach Deal With AI Giant Anthropic Over Copyrighted Song Lyrics
A trio of major music publishers suing Anthropic over the use of lyrics to train its AI system have reached a deal with the Amazon-backed company to resolve some parts of a pending preliminary injunction. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee on Thursday signed off on an agreement between the two sides mandating Anthropic to maintain existing guardrails that prevent its Claude AI chatbot from providing lyrics to songs owned by the publishers.
Source: Music Publishers Reach Deal With AI Giant Anthropic Over Copyrighted Song Lyrics
IFPI: Stream-Ripping Fuels Generative AI From Which Existential Threats Emerge
For the past several years, the recording industry has branded stream-ripping services the leading piracy threat. On the near horizon, the industry claims that the rise of generative AI presents a new and rapidly evolving challenge for the music ecosystem that threatens its long-term sustainability. According to global industry group IFPI, stream-ripping is likely fueling this secondary threat.
Source: IFPI: Stream-Ripping Fuels Generative AI From Which Existential Threats Emerge * TorrentFreak
Literary experts: Piracy, copyright continue to stifle digital publishing industries
Digital publishing industries continue to face competition from free and low-cost online materials, as well as piracy and intellectual property infringements, stakeholders in the publishing industry said, at the Sharjah International Book Fair in the UAE. Literary experts are now calling for the formulation of global policies on intellectual property rights to address these issues within the digital publishing sector.
Source: Literary experts: Piracy, copyright continue to stifle digital publishing industries
How Do AI Detectors Work: Cracking the Code on AI Content
As AI-generated content proliferates, the demand for detectors is on the rise. Search engines are becoming especially wary of results pages flooded with AI-generated content that’s largely unoriginal and low-quality. To remedy this, several businesses are implementing AI content detectors into their content editing and publishing strategy.
Source: How Do AI Detectors Work: Cracking the Code on AI Content
Universal and Amazon Music Strike Deal on Streaming 2.0, Audiobooks and AI Protection
Universal Music Group and Amazon Music have announced an expanded global relationship that will “enable further innovation, exclusive content with UMG artists, and advancement of artist-centric principles including increased fraud protection,” according to the announcement. While full details were not disclosed, the deal is intended to advance UMG’s “Streaming 2.0” strategy.
Source: Universal and Amazon Music Strike Deal to Collaborate on Streaming 2.0, Audiobooks and AI Protection
8 ways AI is changing the game for artists, musicians, and other creators
AI tools make professional-grade music production accessible to independent artists and producers. A Ditto Music survey of over 1,200 artists found that nearly 60% use AI in their projects. Tools like AIVA generate compositions based on specific parameters, replicating complex musical patterns. Automated mixing and mastering tools such as LANDR are also widely used, and 28.6% of producers consider them essential.
Source: 8 ways AI is changing the game for artists, musicians, and other creators
European authorities say AI can use personal data without consent for training
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a wide-ranging report on Wednesday exploring the many complexities and intricacies of modern AI model development. It said that it was open to potentially allowing personal data, without owner’s consent, to train models, as long as the finished application does not reveal any of that private information.
Source: European authorities say AI can use personal data without consent for training
Italian Privacy Watchdog Fines OpenAI $15.5 Million Over ChatGPT Data Use
The Data Protection Authority said Friday that the Californian darling of the artificial intelligence sector processed users’ personal data to train its ChatGPT chat service without identifying an adequate legal basis and violated the country’s rules on transparency for users. It also said the company did not notify it of a March 2023 data breach.
Source: Italian Privacy Watchdog Fines OpenAI $15.5 Million Over ChatGPT Data Use