Music industry legal news

YouTube cracks down on AI deepfakes: new rules allow takedowns of unauthorised vocal clones

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YouTube • 3 min read

YouTube cracks down on AI deepfakes: new rules allow takedowns of unauthorised vocal clones

YouTube has updated its privacy policies to allow the removal of AI-generated deepfakes and vocal clones, responding to growing concerns about unauthorised use of likeness and voice…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jul 2024

Stem wars: recent lawsuits expose copyright pitfalls for labels and producers

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Music industry legal news coverage • 3 min read

Stem wars: recent lawsuits expose copyright pitfalls for labels and producers

Recent lawsuits highlight the complex copyright issues faced by labels and producers where multiple people are involved in the production of a track, with a number of clashes over unauthorised use of stems, loops and beats in hit songs…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jul 2024

Kanye West and henchman Milo Yiannopoulos hit with accusations alleging racism, fraud and more

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Kanye • 4 min read

Kanye West and henchman Milo Yiannopoulos hit with accusations alleging racism, fraud and more

Earlier this year Kanye West partnered with a team of developers around the world to work on creating his own streaming app. Now some of those developers have gone legal accusing the rapper of discrimination, fraud and failing to safeguard minors on the team from pornographic content…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jul 2024

After suing Apple, the EU is going after Meta for DMA breaches

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Meta • 2 min read

After suing Apple, the EU is going after Meta for DMA breaches

The European Commission has published a second preliminary finding in relation to big tech and the EU Digital Markets Act, having previously ruled on Apple. This time it’s Meta’s personal data policies in the spotlight which, the Commission says, are not compliant with the DMA…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jul 2024

Online content is ‘freeware’ and anyone can copy anything on the ‘open web’ says Microsoft AI boss

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Microsoft • 2 min read

Online content is ‘freeware’ and anyone can copy anything on the ‘open web’ says Microsoft AI boss

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was last week asked if AI companies have “effectively stolen the world’s IP”. He replied that there has been a ‘social contract’ that content published online is ‘fair use’ and ‘freeware’, unless a publisher says otherwise. Which isn’t what copyright law says…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jul 2024

Pharrell and Louis Vuitton told to pull their socks up in another trademark spat

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Pharrell Williams • 2 min read

Pharrell and Louis Vuitton told to pull their socks up in another trademark spat

Pharrell Williams is already involved in trademark disputes with Chad Hugo and Pink, and has now been sued alongside his friends at Louis Vuitton. The fashion company and producer have been selling Pocket Socks, which are socks with a pocket. This has angered a company called Pocket Socks Inc…

Chris Cooke • 01 Jul 2024

Ticketmaster data breach: new details emerge from official filings

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Ticketmaster • 2 min read

Ticketmaster data breach: new details emerge from official filings

Live Nation’s Ticketmaster has revealed more information about the data breach which, hackers claim, affected more than half a billion customers. In a letter filed with the Attorney General in Maine, the company also states that it is offering affected customers free identity monitoring services…

Sam Taylor • 01 Jul 2024

OpenDNS pulls plug on France and Portugal after web-blocking injunctions targeting football piracy

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OpenDNS • 2 min read

OpenDNS pulls plug on France and Portugal after web-blocking injunctions targeting football piracy

In recent years the music industry has sought web-blocking injunctions against DNS resolvers as well as ISPs in its ongoing battle with online piracy. French broadcaster Canal+ did the same, and Cisco’s OpenDNS has responded by switching off its service entirely in both France and Portugal…

Chris Cooke • 01 Jul 2024

Spanish collecting society fined €6.5 million over its anticompetitive licensing approach

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SGAE • 2 min read

Spanish collecting society fined €6.5 million over its anticompetitive licensing approach

SGAE in Spain has been fined again by the country’s competition regulator. Previously it was fined for making it difficult for members to move to rival society Unison. Now the regulator has criticised its broadcaster licences which, it says, further hinder competition in the licensing marketplace…

Chris Cooke • 28 Jun 2024

Former Ticketmaster exec pleads guilty over Songkick server hacking

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Ticketmaster • 2 min read

Former Ticketmaster exec pleads guilty over Songkick server hacking

When Songkick sued Live Nation in the mid-2010s, it emerged that Ticketmaster execs had illegally accessed its rivals servers using logins of a former Songkick employee. The lawsuit was settled but a criminal investigation into the hacking continued. The former Songkick exec has now pleaded guilty…

Chris Cooke • 28 Jun 2024

US radio royalties back in the spotlight in Congress

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American Music Fairness Act • 3 min read

US radio royalties back in the spotlight in Congress

The decades long campaign to force US radio stations to pay royalties to artists and labels continues. Representatives for the music industry - including Randy Travis - and the radio sector went back through the arguments for and against such a royalty at a hearing in US Congress yesterday…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jun 2024

Udio responds to record label lawsuit insisting its AI model ‘listens’ rather than ‘copies’

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Udio • 3 min read

Udio responds to record label lawsuit insisting its AI model ‘listens’ rather than ‘copies’

Udio has responded to the lawsuit filed by the record companies earlier this week. It insists that its AI model only ‘listens’ to existing recordings, learning the art of music-making just like a human creator. The record industry maintains that that listening involves unlicensed copying…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jun 2024