"Big Tech" v. "Big Media" - the great generative AI copyright infringement debate! (Is it, or isn't it infringement?)
Expert Robert Tercek & I face off on all issues - no holds-barred, strong opinions, and critical issues (and arguments) raised
Happy Monday! Time for your weekly brAIn dump! First, “the AI:10” - 10 key media-related AI headlines from last week. Next, this week’s “mAIn event” (the great “Big Tech” v. “Big Media” copyright infringement debate, where expert Robert Tercek and I face off). Then, “the cocktAIl” - my special AI event mixology. Finally, the “AI legal case tracker” - updates on the key genAI copyright infringement cases.
[NOTE: there will be no brAIn dump next Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday.]
I. the AI:10 - the 10 key AI headlines from last week
(1) We’ve now officially entered Spike Jonze’s 2013 movie “her” territory. So says Kevin Roose, tech columnist for The New York Times after testing OpenAI’s new generative AI model “GPT-4o” (released last Monday). The “o” after the “4” stands for “omni” - as in, “I plan to be your one-stop home for answers to all of your questions.” Now ChatGPT can speak to us humans with pseudo humanity - “detecting emotions in their voices, analyzing their facial expressions and changing its tone and cadence depending on what the user wants.” Has Scarlett Johansson finally met her match? (Speaking of “match,” check out the great movie “Match Point” - starring Johansson - watch the trailer here).
(2) Not so fast OpenAI, says Google. Meanwhile, at last week’s annual Google I/O conference, the search giant revealed how it will completely “break” how we’ve used search for decades (read more here). The tech juggernaut is re-imagining how it delivers search results via its new AI-generated “Overview” feature — an easily digestible summary of all you need to know so that you never need to click a link again. And that’s the problem! A huge one for publishers, as discussed by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton in a “must listen” Hard Fork podcast episode (you can access here … yes, via a link so that they get the traffic they deserve!). Listen to it. It’s important.
(3) Everyone in Hollywood is using AI, but they’re too afraid to admit it. So says Scott Roxborough of The Hollywood Reporter, in an important piece that lays out current and future realities - including A-list actors like Ryan Gosling being able to star in films forever (and squeeze out emerging talent in the process) by AI-enabled aging and de-aging, in order to match the needs of any new film project. The Information wrote a related story titled “Generative AI’s Open Secret: Everyone is Copying Everyone Else.” Read it here. And here’s another related article discussing how AI will disrupt Hollywood via Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair. Read it here.
(4) AI “unicorn” Synthesia wants a piece of the action too. It’s a VC-backed company I’ve tracked for years (since I first saw its CEO pitch at UTA about 5 years ago … I should have invested!). The company just announced that it has released “the world’s first AI avatars which actually understand the script and automatically adjust facial features and tone of voice.” Read (and watch) more directly from the CEO here.
(5) But be careful out there Synthesia. Voiceover actors just sued AI startup Lovo for stealing their voices “without permission or proper compensation.” Read more here via TheWrap.
(6) Meanwhile, Sony Music just launched its own major shot across the bow. Sony sent letters to 700 AI companies and music streamers officially placing them on notice that they are “opting out” of allowing their music to be used for training of AI without consent. What will it all mean to past unlicensed training? Sony, understandably, is keeping all options on the table. Bravo Sony. Bravo! It’s time for the creative community to push back! Read more here.
(7) Relatedly, AI threatens to drown out music discovery. New research indicates that AI-generated content across Google search has tripled since 2019, now accounting for 10.2% of all searched content as of March 2024. How does this impact music? According to the study’s author, “major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music depend heavily on data from Google Search to power their recommendation engines and discovery algorithms that expose listeners to fresh music.” Read the full analysis here.
(8) But here’s a more positive spin for you AI “accelerationists” out there - “5 Ways Musicians are Making the Most of AI Tools.” Read this article by Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange (a surprising author, in my view).
(9) And yet another more hopeful AI note for creators - “How AI Can Save Journalism”, by Cynthia Lieberman, who bills herself as one who “crafts marketing and PR campaigns for major Hollywood studios.” So there may be a bit of bias there ….
(10) And finally, YouTube shines the spotlight on AI at 2024’s upfronts to advertisers. Of course AI was a central part of its pitch, with the video giant adding an AI-powered optimization tool for non-skippable ads.” Read more here via Tim Peterson of Digiday.
II. The great genAI copyright infringement debate: “Big Tech” and “Big Media” face off.
Media-tech pundit Robert Tercek and I faced off last week on his “The Futurists” podcast (thanks Robert for the invitation!). The topic was “Big Tech v. Big Media”: Generative AI & Copyright Infringement. Is it infringement on the “input” side of genAI’s equation when LLM’s train on copyrighted works without consent and compensation? And how about the “output” side. Is infringement even possible?
You likely know where I come out. Robert, never shy about his opinions, raises solid points — I agree on some, and disagree on many on behalf of the entire creative community (not just “Big Media”). Our conversation was spirited. Respectful. Frequently insightful. I think you’ll get a lot out of it — and even find it entertaining. We discuss all the key issues and current state of play. One thing’s for certain. Our views are diametrically opposed on the fundamental issues, so we never need to worry about poaching each other’s clients!
LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST EPISODE HERE VIA THIS LINK OR VIA THE BUTTON ABOVE
We continue our “great debate” later TODAY, LIVE in New York City, 2:15 PM at STREAMING MEDIA at the InterContinental Barclay (more info below, including how to get discount tickets, in “the cocktAIl”).
[what do you think? send me your feedback at peter@creativemedia.biz]
III. the cocktAIl- your AI mix of “must attend” AI events
After all, it’s always happy hour somewhere!
(1) STARTING TODAY IN NYC! - Yes, TODAY, MONDAY: New York City’s big Streaming Media event takes place at the InterContinental Barclay (learn more via this link). I speak at 2:15 pm in the great “Big Tech v. Big Media” debate with renowned pundit Robert Tercek and two other experts. Bring your tomatoes to toss and then stop me after to say “hi.”
(2) UPCOMING IN JULY - Digital Hollywood’s first generative AI-focused virtual summit, “The Digital Hollywood AI Summer Summit,” (July 22nd - 25th). I’ll be moderating two great sessions. Learn more here via this link. It’s all entirely free!
check out Creative Media and our AI-focused services
IV. the AI legal case tracker - updates on key AI litigation
I lay out the facts - and the latest developments - via this link to the “AI case tracker” tab on “the brAIn” website. You’ll get everything you need (including my detailed analysis of each case). These are the cases I track:
(1) The New York Times v. Microsoft & OpenAI
(2) Sarah Silverman, et al. v. Meta
(3) Sarah Silverman v. OpenAI
(4) Universal Music Group, et al. v. Anthropic
(5) Getty Images v. Stability AI and Midjourney
Spike Jones - not Spike Lee
Spike JONZE directed “Her” … not Spike Lee