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Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we make certain you caught the 5 greatest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and cut back their touring prices.
It was every week of dramatic developments within the subject of AI.
The Trump administration fired the US’s Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, shortly after Perlmutter issued a report asserting that utilizing copyrighted works to coach AI probably exceeds the boundaries of “honest use” beneath copyright legislation.
In the meantime, SoundCloud felt the warmth from artists over a change to its phrases of service concerning AI. Following the backlash, CEO Eliah Seton mentioned the corporate can be altering the T&Cs.
This was additionally every week of great adjustments within the music trade. First, we bought phrase that Jeremy Sirota will probably be stepping down as CEO of Merlin on the finish of this yr. Merlin, the digital licensing accomplice for indie labels and distributors, says it has developed a transition plan.
Then we bought phrase that Invoice Ackman is not on the board of Common Music Group.
Elsewhere, a gaggle of students wrote to the decide adjudicating Drake‘s defamation lawsuit in opposition to UMG, arguing that treating the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar‘s Not Like Us as factual can be a “harmful” transfer.
Donald Trump’s administration has fired a prime public servant at the US’ Library of Congress.
Thus far, so 2025.
But the sudden removing from workplace of US Register Of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, final weekend brings with it context that may very well be of nice significance – and concern – to the worldwide music enterprise. On Friday (Might 9), Perlmutter and her group, through the US Copyright Workplace, issued a pre-publication model of a brand new report on copyright and synthetic intelligence.
The balanced report appears to take a stance that some tech titans received’t recognize: coaching AI on copyrighted songs with out licensing probably exceeds ‘honest use’ definitions in the US…
Invoice Ackman is not on the board of Common Music Group.
The shock information was confirmed Wednesday morning (Might 14) by UMG through an investor announcement.
It reads: “Common Music Group N.V. (EURONEXT: UMG) introduced that Non-Govt Director Invoice Ackman has notified the corporate of his intention to resign from its Board of Administrators efficient right now on account of new govt and board obligations arising from his latest investments. The Board could be very grateful for Mr. Ackman’s contributions to the Firm…”
Jeremy Sirota will step down as CEO of Merlin, the digital music licensing accomplice for impartial labels and distributors, efficient December 31, 2025, the group introduced Tuesday (Might 13).
The Merlin Board and Sirota mentioned they’ve developed a transition plan because the group searches for his successor.
“Jeremy has been a unprecedented CEO for Merlin, bringing nice focus, super vitality and good pondering to some of the necessary and difficult roles inside the impartial neighborhood,” mentioned Darius Van Arman, Chairperson of Merlin and co-founder of Secretly Group…
SoundCloud was on the heart of an internet storm over the weekend after critics noticed an replace to the platform’s T&Cs concerning AI coaching.
The coverage replace, which was added in February 2024, acknowledged: “You explicitly agree that your Content material could also be used to tell, prepare, develop or function enter to synthetic intelligence or machine intelligence applied sciences or providers as a part of and for offering the providers”.
On Wednesday (Might 14), SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton stepped ahead to deal with what he calls “confusion” created by his firm’s alternative of language in its phrases of service concerning AI.
Most significantly, Seton has confirmed that SoundCloud is now updating the troublesome textual content in its Phrases of Use…
A bunch of teachers are urging the courtroom to dismiss Drake’s defamation case in opposition to Common Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us, arguing that taking rap lyrics as factual threatens freedom of speech and dangers a miscarriage of justice.
In a proposed amicus transient despatched on Wednesday (Might 14) to federal courtroom decide Jeannette A. Vargas, the 4 students, all linked to the College of California–Irvine, warned of “the harms that come up when courts deal with rap lyrics as confessions or factual representations.”
“Drake’s defamation declare rests on the idea that each phrase of Not Like Us needs to be taken actually, as a factual illustration,” they wrote of their proposed transient.
“This assumption isn’t just defective—it’s harmful…”
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their revenue and cut back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
