artist rights newsletters – The Trichordist

@ArtistRights Newsletter 8/11/25: @DavidCLowery on Streaming, SX v. Sirius, AI the Cult and “Dual Use AI” Culture is Upstream of War

Save the Date! September 18 Artist Rights Roundtable in Washington produced by Artist Rights Institute/American University Kogod Business & Entertainment Program. Details at this link!

Streaming Economics

@nickgillespie and @davidclowery: Streaming is a Regulated Monopoly (Reason Magazine/Nick Gillespie)

Spotify’s Royalty Threshold Is Conscious Parallelism Reshaping the Music Business—But Not in a Good Way (The Trichordist/Chris Castle)

Dual Use AI

America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future (Foreign Affairs/GEN Mark Milley and Eric Schmidt)

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Named Chairman of Military AI Firm Following €600M Investment (Playy Magazine)

Eric Schmidt Is Building the Perfect AI War-Fighting Machine (Wired/Will Knight)

Souls for Sale: The Long Con Behind AI Weapons and Cultural Complicity (MusicTechPolicy/Chris Castle)

Eric Schmidt-led panel pushing for new defense experimentation unit to drive military adoption of generative AI(Defense Scoop/Brandi Vincent)

The Lords of War: Daniel Ek, Eric Schmidt and the Militarization of Tech (MusicTechPolicy/Chris Castle)

August 11, 2025 by Trichordist Editor

@Artist Rights Institute Newsletter 3/31/25

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter from Artist Rights Watch.

New Survey for Songwriters: We are surveying songwriters about whether they want to form a certified union. Please fill out our short Survey Monkey confidential survey here! Thanks!

Ticketing

Executive Order on Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market

Music Industry reacts to Executive Order on Ticket Scalping (Bruce Houghton/Hypebot)

What Hath Trump Wrought: The Effect of the Anti-Scalping Executive Order on StubHub’s IPO (Chris Castle/MusicTech.Solutions)

StubHub IPO Filing

Copyright Litigation

Merlin sues TikTok rival Triller for breach of contract over allegedly unpaid music licensing fees (Daniel Tencer/Music Business Worldwide)

Artificial Intelligence: Legislation

Artificial intelligence firms should pay artists and musicians for using their work amid uproar over Labour’s plans to exempt them from copyright laws, according to a new poll of Brits (Chris Pollard/Daily Mail)

European Union’s latest draft AI Code of Practice renders copyright ‘meaningless,’ rightsholders warn (Mandy Dalugdug/Music Business Worldwide)

Artificial Intelligence
The Style Returns: Some notes on ChatGPT and Studio Ghibli (Andres Guadamuz/TechnoLlama)

OpenAI’s Preemption Request Highlights State Laws’ Downsides (Oliver Roberts/Bloomberg Law)

Copyright: Termination Rights

Update on Vetter v. Resnik case (Chris Castle/MusicTechPolicy)

April 2, 2025 by Trichordist Editor

@Artist Rights Institute Newsletter 3/24/25

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter

New Survey for Songwriters: We are surveying songwriters about whether they want to form a certified union. Please fill out our short Survey Monkey confidential survey here! Thanks!

Songwriters and Union Organizing

RICO and Criminal Copyright Infringement

perry-v-shein-order-12b6 Download

AI Piracy

“Critics of UK’s AI © proposal must not ‘resist change” –@Peterkyle
Plz Sir. Equal rights for others doesn’t, in any way, diminish your own. The only way such a proposition can be logical is if one derives one’s worth from an unfair advantage over others.https://t.co/YT8ekCls79
— Crispin Hunt (@crispinhunt) March 24, 2025

@alexreisner: Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI (Alex Reisner/The Atlantic)

OpenAI and Google’s Dark New Campaign to Dismantle Artists’ Protections (Brian Merchant/Blood in the Machine)

Alden newspapers slam OpenAI, Google’s AI proposals (Sara Fischer/Axios)

AI Litigation

French Publishers and Authors Sue Meta over Copyright Works Used in AI Training (Kelvin Chan/AP)

DC Circuit Affirms Human Authorship Required for Copyright (David Newhoff/The Illusion of More)

OpenAI Asks White House for Relief From State AI Rules (Jackie Davalos/Bloomberg)

Microsoft faces FTC antitrust probe over AI and licensing practices (Prasanth Aby Thomas/Computer World)

Google and its Confederate AI Platforms Want Retroactive Absolution for AI Training Wrapped in the American Flag(Chris Castle/MusicTechPolicy)

AI and Human Rights

Human Rights and AI Opt Out (Chris Castle/MusicTechPolicy)

March 24, 2025March 24, 2025 by thetrichordist

@ArtistRights Institute Newsletter 3/17/25

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter

Take our new confidential survey for publishers and songwriters!

UK AI Opt-Out Legislation

UK Music Chief Calls on Ministers to Drop Opposition Against Measures to Stop AI Firms Stealing Music

Human Rights and AI Opt Out (Chris Castle/MusicTechPolicy)

Ticketing

New Oregon bill would ban speculative ticketing, eliminate hidden ticket sale fees, crack down on deceptive resellers (Diane Lugo/Salem Statesman Journal-USA Today)

AI Litigation/Legislation

French Publishers and Authors Sue Meta over Copyright Works Used in AI Training (Kelvin Chan/AP);

AI Layoffs

‘AI Will Be Writing 90% of Code in 3-6 Months,’ Says Anthropic’s Dario Amodei (Ankush Das/Analytics India)

Amazon to Target Managers in 2025’s Bold Layoffs Purge (Anna Verasai/The HR Digest)

AI Litigation: Kadrey v. Meta

Authors Defeat Meta’s Motion to Dismiss AI Case on Meta Removing Watermarks to Promote Infringement

Judge Allows Authors AI Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Meta to Move Forward (Anthony Ha/Techcrunch)

America’s AI Action Plan Request for Information

Google and Its Confederate AI Platforms Want Retroactive Absolution for AI Training Wrapped in the American Flag (Chris Castle/MusicTechPolicy)

Google Calls for Weakened Copyright and Export Rules in AI Policy Proposal (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Artist Rights Institute Submission

Artist Rights Institute Comment NSF RFI AI Action Plan v 2 Download

March 18, 2025 by theinvisiblestagehand

New Songwriter Union Survey and @ArtistRights Institute Newsletter 3/10/25

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter

New Survey for Songwriters: We are surveying songwriters about whether they want to form a certified union. Please fill out our short Survey Monkey confidential survey here! Thanks!

Big Tech’s “Text and Data Mining” Lobbying Head Fake

George York of Digital Creators Coalition and RIAA gives an excellent overview of international AI Text and Data Mining (TDM) loopholes and how to plug them. Nov. 20, 2024 Artist Rights Symposium, Washington, DC. Watch the Symposium playlist here.

Music

“I felt like a puppet”: the Motown hit Marvin Gaye felt like he didn’t deserve (Ben Forrest/Far Out) (h/t @ElizaNealsRocks

TikTok

Negotiations over a TikTok US deal have reportedly yet to begin (Stuart Dredge/Music Ally)

Artificial Intelligence: Text and Data Mining Exceptions

Digital Creators Coalition Letter to USTR on US Trade Policy for Threats from Text and Data Mining Exceptions Misapplied in AI Training (Chris Castle/Artist Rights Watch)

Sony slams ‘unworkable’ AI plans as music theft (William Turvill/The Sunday Times)

AI copyright shake-up could breach international law (Mark Sellman/The Times). (Tracks comments on Berne et al made by Digital Creators Coalition to USTR)

REPORT ON PIRATED CONTENT USED IN THE TRAINING OF GENERATIVE AI (Rights Alliance for Creative Industry on the Internet)

Ticketing

TWO PEOPLE ARRESTED ON CYBERCRIME CHARGES AFTER STEALING STUBHUB TICKETS TO ERAS TOUR(Daniel Kreps/Rolling Stone)

March 10, 2025 by Trichordist

@ArtistRights Institute Newsletter 2/24/25: UK @TheIPO Special

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter

UK Intellectual Property Office Copyright and AI Consultation

Artist Rights Institute’s Submission in IPO Consultation

ARI Comment in IPO Consultation v F Download

News Media Association “Make it Fair” Campaign at AI Consultation

Artists Protest at IPO Consultation

The Times (Letters to the Editor): Times letters: Protecting UK’s creative copyright against AI

The Telegraph (James Warrington, Dominic Penna): Kate Bush accuses ministers of silencing musicians in copyright row

BBC News (Paul Glynn): Artists release silent album in protest at AI copyright proposals

Reuters (Sam Tabahriti): Musicians release silent album to protest UK’s AI copyright changes

Forbes (Leslie Katz): 1,000-Plus Musicians Drop ‘Silent Album’ To Protest AI Copyright Tweaks

The Daily Mail (Andy Jehring): More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bash and The Clash release ‘silent album’ to show the impact Labour’s damaging AI plans would have on the music industry

The Guardian (Dan Milmo): Kate Bush and Damon Albarn among 1,000 artists on silent AI protest album

The Guardian (Dan Milmo): Why are creatives fighting UK government AI proposals on copyright?

The Independent (Martyn Landi): Kate Bush and Annie Lennox have released a completely silent album – here’s why

The Evening Standard (Martyn Landi): Musicians protest against AI copyright plans with silent album release

The Independent (Chris Blackhurst): Voices: AI cannot be allowed to thrive at the expense of the UK’s creative industries

The Independent (Holly Evans): UK creative industries launch campaign against AI tech firms’ content use

Silent Album: Is This What We Want Campaign?

More than 1,000 musicians have come together to release Is This What You Want?, an album protesting the UK government’s proposed changes to copyright law.

In late 2024, the UK government proposed changing copyright law to allow artificial intelligence companies to build their products using other people’s copyrighted work – music, artworks, text, and more – without a licence.

The musicians on this album came together to protest this. The album consists of recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, representing the impact we expect the government’s proposals would have on musicians’ livelihoods.

All profits from the album are being donated to the charity Help Musicians.

February 26, 2025 by Trichordist Editor

@ArtistRights Institute Newsletter 2/17/25

The Artist Rights Institute’s news digest Newsletter

#FreeJImmyLai: Update on Chinese Communist Party Free Speech Enemy No. 1: Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong publisher of Apple Daily

Why case of jailed Briton Jimmy Lai is major sticking point for [UK Prime Minister] Keir Starmer’s relations with China (Sky News/Alix Culbertson)

American Music Fairness Act

@MARSHABLACKBURN, @REPDARRELLISSA, COLLEAGUES REINTRODUCE AMERICAN MUSIC FAIRNESS ACT TO ENSURE ARTIST PAY FOR RADIO PLAY #IRESPECTMUSIC #AMFA (MusicTechPolicy/Editor Charlie)

Copyright Royalty Board

What Must be Done in CRB 5? (MusicTechSolutions/Chris Castle)

Copyright

The MTP Interview: Attorney Tim Kappel and Abby North Discuss Vetter v. Resnick with Chris Castle

First of Its Kind Decision Finds AI Training Is Not Fair Use (Copyright Alliance/Kevin Madigan)

‘Mass theft’: Thousands of artists call for AI art auction to be cancelled. (The Guardian/Dan Milmo)

Artificial Intelligence in China

Featured Translation: China’s most humble profession is being squeezed out by Artificial Challenged Intelligence(ChinaAI/Jeffrey Ding)

Great Power Competition in AI

It’s Not Just Technology: What it Means to be a Global Leader in AI (Just Security/Kayla Blomquist and Keegan McBride)

AI, Great Power Competition & National Security (MIT Press/Daedalus/Eric Schmidt)

AI at a Geopolitical Crossroads: The Tension Between Acceleration and Regulation (US Institute for Peace/Andrew Cheatham)

February 17, 2025 by Trichordist Editor

@ArtistRights Institute’s Newsletter 2/3/25

A weekly artist rights news compilation from our friends at the Artist Rights Institute.

Ticketing

After Bruno Mars Bot Scalping Debacle, Hawaii to Prohibit Ticket Resale above Face Price (MusicTechPolicy/Chris Castle)

Artificial Intelligence

Maybe Figure Out What Happened Before Overreacting to the DeepSeek Bombshell? (National Review/Andrew McCarthy)

Oh, I’m sorry, tech bros – did DeepSeek copy your work? I can hardly imagine your distress (The Guardian/Marina Hyde)

Is There an AI Bubble? And Will it Burst in 2025? (24/7 Wall Street/Joey Frenette)

DeepSeek: Good for Nvidia, Great for America (Gilder Report/George Gilder)

Copyright Office Report on AI and Authorship

Spotify Streaming Mechanicals

Your Morning Coffee Special Episode: Jay Gilbert Interviews Liz Pelly on her Spotify Expose

No one should be suprised Spotify beat the MLC (Hypebot/Chris Castle)

Judge throws out MLC’s audiobooks bundle lawsuit, says Spotify can keep cutting songwriter royalties through its “cynical trick” (Complete Music Update/Sam Taylor)

Books

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914, by David McCullough

Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, by Stuart J. Russell

For more information on the Artist Rights Institute go to ArtistRightsInstitute.org

February 3, 2025 by thetrichordist

Save the Date! September 18 Artist Rights Roundtable in Washington produced by Artist Rights Institute/American University Kogod Business & Entertainment Program. Details at this link!

Save the Date! September 18 Artist Rights Roundtable in Washington produced by Artist Rights Institute/American University Kogod Business & Entertainment Program. Details at this link!

Streaming Economics

SoundExchange v. SiriusXM

Copyright Terminations Vetter v. Resnik

Cult of the AI Singularity

Dual Use AI