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First major ruling on AI and fair use goes against the copyright industries, though with a silver lining relating to pirated training content

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

First major ruling on AI and fair use goes against the copyright industries, though with a silver lining relating to pirated training content

A judge has ruled in a legal battle between a group of authors and Anthropic concluding that AI training is fair use under US copyright law. It’s a big win for Anthropic and AI firms generally, although the judge criticised Anthropic’s use of pirated content, which is likely copyright infringement…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jun 2025

EU needs “ambitious report” on copyright and AI to address unresolved issues around creator and performer consent

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Artificial Intelligence • 7 min read

EU needs “ambitious report” on copyright and AI to address unresolved issues around creator and performer consent

The European Parliament’s JURI Committee is currently working on a report about copyright and AI. Groups representing creators and performers have written to MEPs urging them to make it an ambitious report that addresses issues including copyright exceptions, transparency and creator consent…

Chris Cooke • 19 Jun 2025

Musician sues Suno and Udio, says indie artists have been “trampled the most” by unlicensed AI

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Musician sues Suno and Udio, says indie artists have been “trampled the most” by unlicensed AI

A musician has sued Suno and Udio, filing a class action lawsuit against the AI companies that seeks to represent all indie artists in the US. Although the majors are already suing both start-ups, Anthony Justice argues that it’s independent artists whose rights have “been trampled the most” by AI…

Chris Cooke • 17 Jun 2025

AI platform Midjourney is “bottomless pit of plagiarism” say Hollywood studios as they join legal battle against AI

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

AI platform Midjourney is “bottomless pit of plagiarism” say Hollywood studios as they join legal battle against AI

Film studios Disney and Universal have sued Midjourney claiming that its image-generating AI is “a bottomless pit of plagiarism”. Although a movie industry case, it’s relevant to the music business too, with the RIAA stating that the studios’ lawsuit is “a critical stand for human creativity”…

Chris Cooke • 12 Jun 2025

Don’t gaslight MPs warns Caroline Dinenage as she says ministers have got into a “terrible pickle” over AI

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

Don’t gaslight MPs warns Caroline Dinenage as she says ministers have got into a “terrible pickle” over AI

The House Of Lords is now expected to pass the Data Bill without the provisions on AI transparency it has been trying hard to include. The government says it has listened to the Lords and in response committed to publish some reports. But, that’s just “pushing the can down the road”, say critics…

Chris Cooke • 11 Jun 2025

“History repeating itself” say music creators as majors start negotiations with Suno and Udio

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

“History repeating itself” say music creators as majors start negotiations with Suno and Udio

The majors are involved in licensing negotiations with the two music AI companies they sued last year, Udio and Suno. But will they consult music creators before agreeing any deals? Artist and songwriter organisations fear not, but insist that creator consent must be secured before signing any deals…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jun 2025

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and country star Martina McBride lead transatlantic creator fightback as AI companies face legislative squeeze

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EU Artificial Intelligence Act • 5 min read

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and country star Martina McBride lead transatlantic creator fightback as AI companies face legislative squeeze

This week saw coordinated creator lobbying in Brussels and Washington as the EU battles over AI Act implementation while the US considers new deepfake protections. Even YouTube is backing federal regulation, suggesting the tide may finally be turning…

Chris Cooke • 22 May 2025

Government should have “leapt at opportunity” to save creative industries says Kidron, as Data Bill ping pong continues

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Government should have “leapt at opportunity” to save creative industries says Kidron, as Data Bill ping pong continues

The House Of Lords is still trying to get transparency obligations for AI companies into the Data Bill, despite the government working hard to stop that from happening. They have again voted to put that obligation back into the legislation, urging the government to support the move this time…

Chris Cooke • 20 May 2025

Data Bill ping pong continues as government says ‘financial privilege’ trumps AI transparency

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Data Bill ping pong continues as government says ‘financial privilege’ trumps AI transparency

Earlier this week the House Of Lords reinserted an AI transparency obligation that is supported by the music industry into the Data Bill. The government has now said it will get the obligation removed from the final version of the bill by invoking the ‘financial privilege’ of the House Of Commons…

Chris Cooke • 15 May 2025

Guardrails aren’t proof of infringement says Anthropic as judge spanks AI company for “hallucinated” filin

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Anthropic • 4 min read

Guardrails aren’t proof of infringement says Anthropic as judge spanks AI company for “hallucinated” filin

Last month the music publishers suing Anthropic had another go at arguing why the AI company should be held liable for copyright infringement on the outputs of its Claude chatbot. In its own filing, Anthropic says the publishers’ amended arguments are still “defective”…

Chris Cooke • 14 May 2025

House Of Lords puts transparency obligation for AI companies back into Data Bill, after the government got it removed

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

House Of Lords puts transparency obligation for AI companies back into Data Bill, after the government got it removed

The Lords have again added a section to the Data Bill that would force AI companies to declare what copyright protected works they have used when training models. The government previously removed copyright and AI measures from the bill, arguing they should be dealt with in standalone legislation…

Chris Cooke • 13 May 2025

US Copyright Office report on whether AI training is fair use concludes “it depends”, but generally favours copyright owners

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Artificial Intelligence • 5 min read

US Copyright Office report on whether AI training is fair use concludes “it depends”, but generally favours copyright owners

The US Copyright Office has published its report on whether AI companies can make use of existing content without getting permission, because doing so is fair use. It ultimately concludes that “it depends”, stating that the purpose and market impact of the AI are key factors to consider…

Chris Cooke • 12 May 2025