Once upon a time, the industry had a reliable growth engine and consolidated content offering in the form of the cable bundle that came with 40 percent-plus profit margins. Then the streaming wars began in earnest as Disney+, Paramount+, Max, Peacock and more jumped into the space occupied by Netflix. That has left Hollywood companies in dire financial straits.
Source: Hollywood Stocks Are Difficult Investments. What Could Make Them More Investable Again?
A report published earlier this month by NFTevening said that the market for NFTs has been in such a dramatic downturn since 2023 that 95 percent of them are considered “dead,” with the average NFT owner experiencing a 44.5 percent loss on their investment. According to NFTevening, the research was conducted with by examining more than 5,000 NFT collections and 5 million transactions from NFTScan.
Source: The Overwhelming Majority of NFTs Are ‘Dead,’ Report Says
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
Companies are “struggling” to find value in the generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) projects they have undertaken and one-third of initiatives will end up getting abandoned, according to a recent report by analyst Gartner. “After last year’s hype, executives are impatient to see returns on Gen AI investments, yet organizations are struggling to prove and realize value.
Source: A third of all generative AI projects will be abandoned, says Gartner
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
Following recent European Union elections held in June that saw far-right parties made significant gains, Hollywood is making moves to ensure that the new EU regime doesn’t draft new legislation that would be detrimental for studios and streamers. “We are at a moment when [EU] policies are not set in stone yet,” said Stan McCoy, who is the Motion Picture Assn.’s chief for Europe, speaking at the Venice Film Festival.
Source: MPA Europe Chief Stan McCoy Talks Hollywood’s Concerns as New EU Parliament Takes Charge
The artificial-intelligence image generators are testing the boundaries of the platforms’ policies and the ability of companies to put effective guardrails around public use of this powerful new visual technology. The ability to create images of real, known people has emerged as one of the biggest tension points in this new content-moderation debate.
Source: How AI Image Tools Are Generating New Content-Moderation Problems
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.