Several news organizations, writers and photographers groups are pushing to be involved in creating standards for the use of artificial intelligence, particularly as it concerns intellectual property rights and the potential spread of misinformation. In an open letter sent on Wednesday, they outlined priorities for setting rules on the technology, which is developing faster than regulators can keep up with.

Source: Journalists seek regulations to govern fast-moving artificial intelligence technology

Google and Universal Music Group are in talks to secure licenses for artists’ vocals and musical melodies to create artificial intelligence-generated songs, The Financial Times reported Tuesday (August 8). The report added that Warner Music Group is also engaged in negotiations with Google regarding a similar initiative. Talks between Google and Universal Music are at an early stage and no immediate product launch is anticipated, the newspaper said.

Source: Google and Universal Music Group in talks over licensing AI ‘deepfakes’ (report)

The U.K.’s PRS for Music and PPL will be installing its ‘Audoo Audio Meters’ in cafes, pubs, restaurants, retailers and other businesses, and using them to track the music played in order to calculate public performance royalties. It’s a B2B application for Shazam-style music recognition technology. For now, Audoo’s meters will sit alongside existing methods of collecting this data rather than replace them.

Source: Audoo strikes music-monitoring deal with PRS for Music and PPL – Music Ally

In its submission to the Australian government’s review of the regulatory framework around AI, Google said that copyright law should be altered to allow for generative AI systems to scrape the internet. The company said  policymakers should promote “copyright systems that enable appropriate and fair use of copyrighted content to enable the training of AI models in Australia on a broad and diverse range of data, while supporting workable opt-outs for entities that prefer their data not to be trained in using AI systems”.

Source: Google says AI systems should be able to mine publishers’ work unless companies opt out

When professor Jane Friedman acknowledged that she could not prove that she owned the trademark on her own name, she said Amazon said it would leave the books she didn’t write but attributed to her up and for sale. But that stance changed late Monday night when the books began disappearing from Amazon’s website, and after the Authors Guild offered to step in on Friedman’s behalf.

Source: Amazon Reverses Course on ‘Garbage Books’ After Public Uproar – Decrypt