RightsTech Project

Spotify Finally Raises U.S. Premium Subscription Prices

July 24, 2023By rightstech

After months of pressure, Spotify has finally raised its monthly U.S. subscription prices. In wording that seems oddly apologetic and reflects CEO Daniel Ek’s long resistance to raising prices, the company made the announcement in a blog post Monday morning. “The market landscape has continued to evolve since we launched,” it reads. “So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets* around the world.

Source: Spotify Finally Raises U.S. Premium Subscription Prices

Voice Actors Decry AI at Comic-Con: ‘We’ve Lost Control Over What Our Voice Could Say’

July 24, 2023By rightstech

The perils of artificial intelligence to the entertainment industry came to San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, with SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland joining a panel of voice actors organized by NAVA, the National Association of Voice Actors, to discuss the specific hazards AI is already posing to the profession.

Source: Voice Actors Decry AI at Comic-Con Panel With SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland: ‘We’ve Lost Control Over What Our Voice Could Say’

The creator economy was already exploding. Then Hollywood went on strike.

July 24, 2023By rightstech

Studios and producers are scrambling to recruit creators to help fill a content void, stoking tensions over scab work and changing styles of storytelling. But striking actors and writers are increasingly less reliant on Hollywood, too, experimenting with new ideas on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch in ways that could net them lasting followings — if not steady paychecks — that go beyond traditional industry success.

Source: The creator economy was already exploding. Then Hollywood went on strike.

Publishers want billions, not millions, from AI

July 24, 2023By rightstech

Barry Diller fired publishers’ opening shot at artificial intelligence platforms in a Semafor interview this April, suggesting they sue the companies that have trained models on their data. Now his company, IAC, and a handful of key publishers are close to formalizing a coalition that could lead a lawsuit as well as press for legislative action, people at those companies said.

Source: Publishers want billions, not millions, from AI

Early Setback for Artists in Lawsuit Over Generative AI

July 24, 2023By Paul Sweeting

The first group of artists to bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Stable Diffusion-developer Stability AI, along with Midjourney and DeviantArt, suffered a setback in court last week when a federal district court judge in San Francisco indicated he is likely to dismiss most of the charges in the case, albeit while leaving the door open for the plaintiffs to file a new complaint.

Google, Meta fight with Canada over law forcing them to pay for news

July 24, 2023By rightstech

At issue is Bill C-18, passed last month as Canada’s Online News Act, which aims to shore up a struggling media industry by requiring tech firms to compensate domestic news publishers for the content shared on their platforms. The tech companies have responded with threats and retaliatory moves.

Source: Google, Meta fight with Canada over law forcing them to pay for news

Netflix Eyes IP Deals Rather Than “Stressed” M&A Assets

July 21, 2023By rightstech

Netflix is often mentioned as an M&A player when a studio or media group is up for sale, but don’t expect the streamer to buy a major Hollywood business any time soon. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, speaking on the company’s second quarter earnings call, said that he’s more interested in buying IP. “We’ve always looked at these things in terms of the opportunity of IP, versus those assets, some of those assets are stressed for a reason,” he said.

Source: Netflix Eyes IP Deals Rather Than “Stressed” M&A Assets, Plays Down Plans To Syndicate Originals

Streaming Brought Hollywood to a Standstill. Now Comes the Pain.

July 21, 2023By rightstech

Though they hope for a quick resolution, entertainment executives say they are contemplating the prospect that the joint strike by actors and writers could drag on for months—even through the end of the year. Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and Walt Disney are among the traditional companies whose broadcast-TV and movie businesses could be massively disrupted within months. Netflix and Amazon.com might not feel the pinch until 2025 or beyond, entertainment executives and analysts said.

Source: Streaming Brought Hollywood to a Standstill. Now Comes the Pain.

Google pitches media outlets on AI that could help produce news

July 21, 2023By rightstech

Google is in discussions with news publishers about building and selling artificial intelligence tools that could help reporters and editors produce written journalism, a potential major acceleration of the practice of using automated tools to produce news content. The product was pitched as possibly being able to collect information as part of newsgathering, write an early draft of a news story, and handle postproduction elements like writing social media posts.

Source: Google pitches media outlets on AI that could help produce news

7 A.I. Companies Agree to Safeguards After Pressure From the White House

July 21, 2023By rightstech

Seven leading A.I. companies in the United States have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology’s development, the White House announced on Friday, pledging to strive for safety, security and trust even as they compete over the potential of artificial intelligence. The seven companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — will formally announce their commitment to the new standards at a meeting with President Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon.

Source: 7 A.I. Companies Agree to Safeguards After Pressure From the White House