Cornell’s latest innovation introduces a method to watermark video with imperceptible codes hidden in light sources used during recording. Developed by graduate student Peter Michael and conceptualized by assistant professor Abe Davis, the technique embeds unique, nearly invisible fluctuations in the lighting on-set. These minute variations can’t be seen by the human eye but are recognized by forensic analysis tools once the footage is recorded.
Publisher traffic sources: Google steady but social and direct referrals are down
New data from Chartbeat suggests that “search” as a source of total traffic to major news publishers has remained stable over the last year. This appears to chime with a Google statement earlier this month downplaying the impact of AI Overviews and AI Mode on publisher referrals. However, this includes Google Discover – which has replaced search as the main source of Google traffic. Social media has however sharply declined as a source of publisher traffic in recent years, as has direct traffic.
Source: Publisher traffic sources: Google steady but social and direct referrals are down
Synthetic data is the new AI gold rush, but critics call it ‘data laundering’
The prospect of relying heavily on synthetic data hasn’t gone unnoticed by the creative industries. “I believe the main reason companies like OpenAI are having to rely more on synthetic data now is that they’ve run out of high-quality human created data to mine from the public facing internet,” says Reid Southern, a film concept artist and illustrator, adding, “It further distances them from any copyrighted materials they’ve trained on that could land them in hot water.”
Source: Synthetic data is the new AI gold rush, but critics call it ‘data laundering’
SourceAudio: ‘We’re building the market-making infrastructure for the music business’
While the music industry continues to grapple with questions around artificial intelligence and fair compensation, SourceAudio has positioned itself as an ethical bridge between AI companies seeking training data and rightsholders demanding fair payment. With 14 million tracks now opted into SourceAudio’s AI dataset licensing program, the firm has struck partnerships with companies includingElevenLabs, Musical AI, and Wondera.
Source: ‘We’re building the market-making infrastructure for the music business’
Music publishers allege Anthropic used BitTorrent to pirate copyrighted lyrics
Publishers including Universal Music Group, Concord and ABKCO sued Anthropic in 2023 for copyright infringement, alleging that its Claude chatbot regurgitated copyrighted lyrics, indicating the company had trained the chatbot on those lyrics without permission. Now the music publishers additionally allege that Anthropic hid the fact that it used BitTorrent to pirate copyrighted lyrics, lawyers for the publishers said in a document filed on Monday (August 11) with the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Source: Music publishers allege Anthropic used BitTorrent to pirate copyrighted lyrics
New AI-Driven Role-Playing Platform Launches With Plans to Gamify Fan Fiction
New role-playing gaming platform Hidden Door debuted Wednesday with features that allow users to create their own stories within iconic fictional worlds by engaging with AI-driven models made in partnership with creators, authors and IP rights holders. Within these worlds, there are chances to add in genre-bending plot twists, including vampires and pirates, that affect the rules of the worlds.
Kobalt inks direct licensing deal with Spotify in the US
The agreement marks Spotify’s latest direct deal with a prominent music publisher and moves its agreement with Kobalt beyond the traditional CRB model in the US. This means that Kobalt’s direct deal supersedes the audiobook ‘bundling‘ payment structure that, starting in March last year, saw Spotify dramatically cut the rate of mechanical royalties paid to publishers and songwriters in the US.
Source: Kobalt inks direct licensing deal with Spotify in the US
Meta Acquires WaveForms to Boost AI Audio Capabilities
Meta acquires AI audio startup WaveForms to advance emotional voice synthesis and integrate tech into Superintelligence Labs. WaveForms’ main focus is the ‘Speech Turing Test,’ a challenge to create AI-generated speech that is indistinguishable from human voices. The platform incorporates what it calls ‘emotional general intelligence’—software designed to replicate the emotional nuance of human speech within generated speech.
Source: Meta Acquires WaveForms to Boost AI Audio Capabilities
Japan’s largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, sues Perplexity for copyright violations
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper by circulation, has sued the generative AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement. The lawsuit, filed in Tokyo District Court on August 7, marks the first copyright challenge by a major Japanese news publisher against an AI company. Yomiuri alleges the scraping has been used by Perplexity to reproduce the newspaper’s copyrighted articles in responses to user queries without authorization.
Source: Japan’s largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, sues AI startup Perplexity for copyright violations
Shira Perlmutter USCO Suit Sets Summary Judgement Schedule
The lawsuit filed by ex-Copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter now has a summary judgement schedule, which will run into November. Both sides just recently filed a proposed schedule for that summary judgement sub-dispute, and the presiding judge signed off on the timetable soon thereafter. Taking a step back for a moment, a reinstatement-minded Perlmutter is technically spearheading two cases: A core complaint challenging her USCO dismissal and an appeal.
Source: Shira Perlmutter USCO Suit Sets Summary Judgement Schedule