Walk into a corner of a newsroom somewhere and you can often find it affixed to a bulletin board, perhaps peeking out from behind the coffee pot: the Society of Professional Journalists’s Code of Ethics. It’s less than a thousand words, fitting neatly on a poster. But those words — organized around four key journalistic principles — are important enough, asserts Dan Axelrod, that they just might save our democracy.
Journalism’s ethics code gets an AI-era rewrite
Premium subscription streaming generated $3.1B for rightsholders in the US in H1 2026
Streaming generated USD $4.9 billion, up 4.7% YoY, with paid subscriptions generating $3.4 billion in the period – up 6.4% YoY. The ‘Premium’ subscription part of that equation generated $3.11 billion for rightsholders in H1 2026, up 7.8% YoY. The other half of the equation – ‘non-premium’ subs, largely music bundled into services where music isn’t the main event – fell 9% YoY to $239.1 million.
Source: Premium subscription streaming generated $3.1B for rightsholders in the US in H1 2026
Study Says Library E-book Lending Hurts Industry Sales
Titled “An Empirical Study of the Impact of Library E-Lending on the Book Economy” and conducted by Secretariat Advisors, the report predicts that “decreases in library e-book prices or certain other changes to licensing terms, as required in recent state legislative initiatives, would cause further harm to commercial markets,” including publishers, authors, and booksellers.
Source: Study Says Library E-book Lending Hurts Industry Sales
Jason Isbell and David Lowery are suing Suno in a class action suit
Jason Isbell is suing AI music company Suno over the alleged commercial use of his identity. The six-time Grammy winner filed a proposed class action on Monday (August 31) in Boston federal court, alongside Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery, Texas blues musician Guy Forsyth, and Florida saxophonist Eduardo Calle. Interestingly, the 84-page lawsuit contains no copyright claim.
Source: Jason Isbell and David Lowery are suing Suno in a class action suit
An Open Letter on the Music Rights Market
Over the last ten years, buying music became trendy. The logic was simple: recurring revenue, long duration, emotional resonance. Prices climbed. Multiples stretched. Everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Then the market said enough. The collapse of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund looked, for a moment, like a verdict on music as an asset. It was not. It was a verdict on an over-leveraged fund. Content underneath it was just fine. Music is still the name of the game. What came next proved the point.
New York Post Inks First-Look Film and TV Deal to Mine Archives
The New York Post has set a path into film, TV, documentary and streaming projects via a first-look creative partnership with Crazy Legs Productions. Atlanta-based Crazy Legs will look to adapt stories and archival materials from the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid across scripted and unscripted platforms. The deal will see the partners focus on developing media content in the true crime, pop culture and sports genres.
Source: New York Post Inks First-Look Film and TV Deal to Mine Archives
Hollywood studios have sued over AI. Now Google is courting them to use its tools
Tech giant Google has been quietly making overtures to the major studios as it tries to find ways to entice Hollywood to use its artificial intelligence technology. Google executives have approached representatives at Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and other studios about licensing intellectual property to be used in AI models, according to three people familiar with the conversations who were not authorized to speak publicly about them.
Source: Hollywood studios have sued over AI. Now Google is courting them to use its tools
Musicians and Actors Unite in UK Campaign Against Voice Cloning for AI
A group of more than 80 performers, including actor Hugh Bonneville and singer Sandi Thom, have written to the UK government to demand greater protection against their voices being used by AI. Together, they are asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation that would better protect every person in the UK against voice cloning and AI training on recordings without consent. Audiobook narrator Alice Sockett co-founded the campaign, calling voice cloning “an existential threat to our entire industry.”
Source: Musicians and Actors Unite in UK Campaign Against Voice Cloning for AI
New Report Examines Writers’ Attitudes toward AI
A study commissioned by the Gotham Ghostwriters and Bernoff.com found that while most professional writers are embracing AI tools, authors, specifically fiction authors, are much more wary. The majority of all writers think that AI poses both a threat and an opportunity. 61% reported using AI tools, which they say increase their productivity by an average of 31%, but only 7% of respondents have published AI-generated text.
How Bad Was Brexit for the UK Touring Industry?
A new report from the UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport on the impact of Brexit on British musicians playing in Europe reveals that the UK leaving the EU in 2020 has had a significant effect on European touring for UK musicians. In particular, the study highlights the decline in performances and estimates the economic consequences. Commissioned by the UK government, the report reveals that the total number of performances by British artists in Europe in 2024 was 21% lower than pre-Brexit levels in 2019.