To date, more than two dozen content owner deals with AI developers have been publicly confirmed, according to VIP+ research. A diverse range of publisher types are now engaged in licensing, with dealmaking rampant among news publishers, stock image companies and platforms such as Reddit and Stack Overflow. Yet the licensing market for generative AI is coming to fruition in a contentious and uncertain legal environment.
Generative AI & Licensing: A Special Report
An author has questions on his publisher’s AI deal (opinion)
Informa, the academic publishing powerhouse and parent company of Routledge and Taylor & Francis, recently announced a deal with Microsoft that will feed a massive body of scholarly work to a generative AI system. If Informa’s decision portends a wave of similar deals between scholarly publishers and generative AI companies, the troubling precedent this sets could result in significant changes to the nature of academic publishing.
Source: An author has questions on his publisher’s AI deal (opinion)
Court Rules Against Photographer Who Sued AI Dataset for Copyright Theft
A German court has ruled against a photographer who sued the AI image dataset company LAION in a case that could have big implications. The dispute between the two parties wound up in the Hamburg Regional Court where on Friday the court ruled that LAION benefited from the exception of copyright infringement under Section 60(d) of Germany copyright law. A proviso that allows privileged research organizations to reproduce works even if granted an opt-out by the author of the work,
Source: Court Rules Against Photographer Who Sued AI Dataset for Copyright Theft
European Commission appoints 13 experts to draft AI Code
The European Commission has today announced the list of independent experts from the EU, US and Canada tasked to lead work on drafting a Code of Practice on General Purpose Artificial Intelligence, which includes language models such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The EU’s AI Act, which entered into force last month – provides stringent rules for providers of GPAI models, which will become effective in August 2025.
Source: European Commission appoints 13 experts to draft AI Code
YouTube strikes deal with SESAC following licensing dispute
YouTube said in a statement published via social media over the weekend its deal with SESAC had “expired without an agreement on renewal conditions despite our best efforts”. That dispute has now been resolved. SESAC said today (September 30) that it has struck a deal with YouTube “to equitably compensate SESAC’s songwriters and publishers for the use of their music”.
Rethinking Photography in the Age of AI
After Instagram instituted a label on images to clearly identify those that were AI-generated, many photographers stood up in arms, angry that it also included images retouched using AI. “It is not the same,” they say. “Retouching,” they say, “is not generating, and our images should not be classified as such.” Photographers are angry that their images carry this label because it implies their images are fake and untrustworthy.
California Forces a Rethink of A.I. Regulation
The most sweeping effort yet to regulate artificial intelligence, a California bill that could have informed laws around the world, is going back to the drawing board. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the legislation, known as S.B. 1047 — under strong pressure from Silicon Valley giants. Now, governments must again try to figure out the best way to rein in the fast-growing technology’s excesses, while letting innovation flourish.
Major music companies, urging Canada’s CRTC not to regulate streaming as if it were radio
Industry groups representing major record companies and streaming platforms have a message for Canada’s telecom regulator: streaming is not radio, and shouldn’t be regulated as if it were. The groups were responding to the CRTC’s recent series of workshops on implementing new rules governing streaming services. Under those rules, streaming services that are not Canadian-owned are required to pay 5% of revenue into funds that subsidize Canadian content and creators.
Hipgnosis name and branding set to change to reflect new structure under Blackstone
MBW understands that Hipgnosis plans to reflect the unification of the management company and Hipgnosis’ two formerly separate portfolios (Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Hipgnosis Songs Assets) under a single, new name. Internal discussions on the matter are well underway, we’re told, with an announcement on a new name expected around the turn of the year. “The existing names no longer accurately reflects the structure of the business.”
Startup Runway Giving Filmmakers up to $1 Million If They Use AI to Make Their Movies
Runway, the generative AI company that recently inked a first-of-its-kind deal with Lionsgate, will dole out grants of up to $1 million to filmmakers working on AI-powered projects. Runway is launching The Hundred Film Fund, an initiative to help produce and fund as many as 100 short films and feature-length movies that use generative AI technology to tell their stories.