Welcome to Creative Media’s “AI & NFT Legal Update” newsletter - all about the always-evolving, and frequently perplexing, business, legal and litigation landscape that surrounds AI, Web3 and NFTs - with a particular focus on the impact of these transformational technologies on the creative community.
This is a special “AI only” edition - focused on some of the key issues that AI poses to the worlds of media and entertainment (and the lives of artists, creators and IP/content owners).
My media, entertainment and tech legal and business advisory firm Creative Media and I work with leading companies and players in these worlds (check out our clients). Think of us as your external General Counsel, business development experts and advisors. Reach out to me, Peter Csathy, at peter@creativemedia.biz to explore how we can help.
I. HEADLINE STORY
SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER LAYS OUT THE 4 KEY “GUARDRAILS” FOR AI SAFETY LEGISLATION
After the newly socially conscious Elon Musk and hundreds of other captains of industry warned against generative AI’s “profound risks to society and humanity,” Congress may be finally ready to take action. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer is leading the charge to craft AI “safety” legislation.
He will seek to address 4 major safety “guardrails” to balance the need for security, accountability and transparency with the need to foster innovation:
(1) the identification of who trained the algorithm and who its intended audience is;
(2) the disclosure of its data source;
(3) an explanation for how it arrives at its response; and
(4) transparent and strong ethical boundaries.
My “take”? This is a smart start - and needs to move fast. Of course, the question arises how any of this can be enforced. But let’s first at least start to try. Kudos to Schumer.
II. AI “QUICK HITS” (KEY DEVELOPMENTS)
Here are some of the key and most interesting AI-related recent news hits.
(1) Don’t be an AI doom-sayer or an AI Utopian. Just keep it real! Here’s a simple, yet smart, article from Axios that lays it out.
(2) On the positive AI side, perhaps AI can help society move from “jobs” to “careers” to “callings” to “chimeras.” Huh? What? Just read this intriguing article from The Atlantic that lays it out.
(3) Spotify may use AI to give us “Sliding Doors”-like “what if” playlists. This is another huh? What? Again, just read here. Intriguing.
(4) More AI music possibilities. Read this about how generative AI can transform “functional music” into an artist-driven experience.
(5) Can AI increase the value of music catalogs? One company certainly thinks so. Read about how XDMind is tapping into AI to match music catalogs to videos.
(6) AI’s hyper-local news possibilities? Just one potential use of AI’s ability to create new radio shows that even emulate the broadcaster’s voices. Check it out here.
(7) But not all music players are so quick to embrace AI (understandably). The world’s biggest music label, Universal Music Group, reportedly has “instructed” streaming services to remove all AI-generated music, citing “a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists.” Read more about it here.
(8) Here’s another more pessimistic view of AI’s impact to the music industry. Read this article, “Analysts are starting to believe that AI may be an existential threat for the major labels.”
III. READ MY ARTICLES ABOUT AI & ITS IMPACT ON ARTISTS, CREATORS & THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
(1) “To Err is Human - and That’s What Makes Human Creativity in the Age of AI Divine.” (Read it here.)
(2) “The Entertainment Industry Dropped the Ball When the Internet & Napster Hit. What Can It Do Differently in This AI Revolution?” (Read it here.)
(3) “An ‘Opt In’ Solution for Paying Artists in an Increasingly Generative AI World” (Read it here.)
(4) “AI Copies Human Creativity on a Massive Scale. So Shouldn’t Artists and Creators Get Paid?” (Read it here.)
(5) “AI Cautionary Tales: How 80’s Synth-Pop Icon Howard Jones Shows the Perils Ahead” (Read it here.)
IV. CLOSING THOUGHTS:
A. Check Out & Subscribe to My Separate “Fearless Media” Newsletter
If you like my work, check out my separate “Fearless Media” newsletter - all about the future of entertainment, media and tech. Check it out and subscribe via this link.
B. My Next “Regular” “AI & NFT Legal & Business Update” Newsletter Comes Out May 1st
Once again, I’ll bring NFTs and Web3 back into the mix - and give the most critical updates on all key litigation in the worlds of AI and Web3/NFTs.
If you like THIS newsletter, support it, subscribe to it and share it! Industry expert Jim Louderback calls this newsletter “a must read” and “fascinating look at how these new technologies are being hashed out in court.”