3 Count: AI Scraping

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1: UMG Tells Apple and Spotify to Block AI Lyric, Melody Scraping

First off today, Anna Nicolaou at the Financial Times reports that Universal Music Group (UMG) has sent letters to the major streaming music providers asking them to deny access to their catalog from artificial intelligence (AI) bots and threatened legal action if they do not comply.

UMG is the second-largest record label in the United States. In letters sent to Spotify, Apple and other streaming platforms, they are demanding that the services block access to AI tools that aim to scrape musical and lyrical elements from UMG songs.

UMG has been aggressively targeting YouTube channels and other locations that feature AI-generated “sound alike” music. As a result, UMG is asking the streaming services to bar AI services from training on their catalog, saying that such technology poses “serious issues” when it comes to copyright.

2: Operators of Movie & TV Piracy Giant 8maple Sentenced to Prison in Taiwan

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that, in Taiwan, two men convicted of operating the pirate streaming site 8maple have been sentenced to 18 months in prison for their role in the operation.

The site was launched in 2014 and, by early 2020, it was suspected to be earning approximately $133,000 in revenue per month. However, after an investigation by a variety of rightsholders organizations and Taiwanese authorities, it was shut down in March 2020 and the operators, Chen Su and Zhuang Su, were arrested.

Those two have now been sentenced to 18 months for their roles in the service. In addition to the prison sentence, the two were also ordered to forfeit the nearly $2 million in funds that were seized at the time the site was shuttered.

3: Lil Yachty Settles Lawsuit With NFT Platform That Raised $6.5M In Venture Capital Funds Using His Likeness

Finally today, Samantha Dorisca at AfroTech reports that rapper Lil Yachty has reached a settlement with the NFT platform Opulous over allegations that it improperly used his likeness and copyright-protected works to launch an NFT-based project.

According to the lawsuit, Opulous used Lil Yachty’s name, likeness, photos and other elements in launching a new NFT line. However, Lil Yachty said his only contact with the company was a phone call and no contract was signed, and no agreement was reached.

That case has now been settled. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but both sides have 45 days to finalize the deal in writing and have the case dismissed.

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