Latest news with #DigitalMillenniumCopyrightAct
Politico
08-07-2025
- Business
- Politico
The problem with Elon Musk's techie dream of rebooting politics
His America Party announcement touched on traditional populist-conservative themes. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' he wrote in a Saturday X post. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' Musk has suggested that he will focus on tight congressional races. He has reportedly spoken to Andrew Yang, the tech commentator and entrepreneur who launched the centrist Forward Party in 2022. It's not clear what lessons he'll learn from Yang, whose party has yet to make an impact on any big races so far. During his run for president, Yang pitched universal basic income to address AI displacing workers. His Forward Party also has techie leanings — proposing data-driven policymaking and incubating innovative businesses — along with broader support for enforcing the democratic process and rule of law. Some alternative parties have been even more tech-driven. In 2006, programmers in Sweden founded the Pirate Party out of frustration around restrictions on online file sharing. That same year, American tech activists established their own branch, specifically to push back against the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and promote data privacy. Though it has never become a political force, the Pirates enjoyed some successes in Iceland and Germany. (In 2022, the U.S. party ran one of its members for the House representing Kentucky, but Ethan Osborne won only 3.9 percent of the vote.) The Transhumanist Party has also struggled to get tech-focused candidates into office. Zoltan Istvan, a futurist who founded the party in 2014, mounted two unsuccessful bids for president, and another for California governor. Istvan is running again for governor, but this time as a Democrat. 'If you don't run for one of the two parties, you just simply don't break in, and so you have to be realistic,' he told POLITICO. Quite a bit less fringey was the political group Win the Future (WTF), launched by established players in Silicon Valley to challenge the two-party system after Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton. In 2017, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, founder of the mobile gaming company Zynga, launched the group and tried to convince singer Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind to be WTF's challenger against then-California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The plans never came to fruition. (Hoffman declined to comment; the website for Win the Future is defunct.) Arguably the lineage of know-it-all tech entrepreneurs trying to disrupt politics starts with Ross Perot, the swaggering Texas IT entrepreneur who founded the Reform Party in 1996. He twice ran for president in the 1990s on a populist, tech-savvy platform that included measures to facilitate democratic participation via the then-nascent internet. At some level, all these projects crashed against the same obstacles that have sunk most third parties trying to crack the U.S.'s political duopoly. Political novices have to build coalitions from scratch and quickly figure out the patchwork of state election laws to make any kind of national impression.
UPI
26-06-2025
- Business
- UPI
Meta gets partial win in AI-teaching copyright case
June 26 (UPI) -- A federal judge let Meta off the hook for the use of books to train its artificial intelligence model, but it still might face legal challenges by the authors in other ways. United States District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled Wednesday that it wasn't unlawful for Meta to feed copyrighted material to its large language models, or "Llama," because of the doctrine of "fair use." Chhabria wrote in his ruling that the use of copyrighted works by companies to train generative AI models, are using the materials in a creative fashion, which in copyright law is considered a "transformative" use as the Copyright Act says the use of copyrighted materials to teach, research, criticize, comment or report news is not infringement. Conversely, the judge also noted that creating a new product by way of copying a protected work and then marketing that product could potentially harm the markets that carry the original materials. "So by training generative AI models with copyrighted works, companies are creating something that often will dramatically undermine the market for those works," Chhabria wrote. He then questioned if companies that feed copyright-protected materials into their AI platforms without first getting permission from the copyright holders or paying to use the originals are doing something illegal. "Although the devil is in the details, in most cases the answer will likely be yes," wrote the judge. Chhabria then referred to a similar case that concluded on Monday in which U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled the Anthropic artificial intelligence company didn't violate any copyright laws when it used millions of copyrighted books to train its own AI. "Judge Alsup focused heavily on the transformative nature of generative AI while brushing aside concerns about the harm it can inflict on the market for the works it gets trained on," Chhabria wrote. "No matter how transformative [Llama] training may be, it's hard to imagine that it can be fair use to use copyrighted books to develop a tool to make billions or trillions of dollars," Chhabria wrote. "While enabling the creation of a potentially endless stream of competing works that could significantly harm the market for those books." However, part of the lawsuit filed by the authors also alleges that Meta had removed copyright management information, which would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, and this will be overseen separately. A case management conference on how the court will proceed in regard to the DMCA is scheduled for July 11.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Rs 935.9 crores lawsuit filed by Eminem against Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and it's not just for money
Lawsuit Targets Meta's In-App Audio Features $150,000 Sought Per Track Across Three Platforms Eminem Seeks Jury Trial and Injunction Unrelated Leak Case Rumours About India Concert Remain Unconfirmed In a major legal development, global rap icon Eminem has initiated a $109 million (Rs 935.9 crores) lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram , and WhatsApp. The lawsuit, filed on May 30, 2025, in Michigan, was brought forward by Eminem's publishing firm, Eight Mile Style , which has accused Meta of copyright infringement involving 243 of the artist's legal action specifically calls out Meta's features like 'Original Audio' and 'Reels,' alleging that the tools actively allow users to incorporate Eminem's music into their own video content without obtaining licenses or offering proper attribution. The complaint labels this use as 'unauthorised storage, reproduction and exploitation' of Eminem's catalogue across Meta's E! News, court documents reveal that Meta initially attempted to license Eminem's music through digital royalty service Audiam. However, after Eight Mile Style declined the request, Meta allegedly continued to use over 200 songs on its audio-enabled features. The lawsuit refers to this conduct as a case of 'rampant' and 'knowing infringement.'Eight Mile Style is pursuing statutory damages of $150,000 per song, per platform—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This brings the total demand to approximately $109.35 million. The publishing company argues that this infringement has led to both direct financial losses and a devaluation of the copyrights has not yet issued any public comment in response to the lawsuit also seeks a jury trial, along with a permanent injunction preventing Meta from using any of Eminem's music in the future without proper authorisation. In addition to financial compensation, the suit is aimed at preventing what Eight Mile Style describes as an ongoing pattern of unlicensed representatives have further asserted that Meta should not be protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions, claiming that the tech giant knowingly enabled mass copyright lawsuit against Meta comes shortly after another legal incident involving Eminem's music. Earlier in the year, Joseph Strange, a former sound engineer at the rapper's studio in Michigan, was indicted on charges of copyright infringement and transporting stolen material across state lines. The FBI revealed that some of Eminem's unreleased music, recorded between 1999 and 2018, was leaked and purchased through crowdfunding in Bitcoin.A spokesperson for Eminem denounced the leaks as harmful to the artist's legacy and stated that all legal means would be employed to protect his intellectual the legal proceedings, unverified rumours circulated online about Eminem performing in Mumbai on June 3, 2025. Despite reports and leaked tour schedules hinting at a concert, no official statement was released by the rapper or his team, and no confirmation has surfaced about any event taking place in reports from February had mentioned an extensive world tour including stops in Asia, North America, and Europe. However, details about the India leg appear to have been inaccurate due to lack of official confirmation.
Arab Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
Eminem sues Meta over unauthorized use of music in reels
LOS ANGELES, June 4: Rap icon Eminem has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, accusing the tech giant of unauthorized use and distribution of his music through its social media tools, including Reels Remix and Original Audio. The complaint was filed on May 30 in Michigan federal court by Eminem's production company, Eight Mile Style. The lawsuit alleges that Meta engaged in 'rampant' and 'knowing infringement' by making Eminem's songs available in its 'Music Libraries' for use in user-generated content — often without obtaining the necessary licenses. These songs, including major hits like 'Lose Yourself,' were allegedly used in millions of videos and streamed billions of times without proper authorization. Eight Mile Style contends that Meta attempted to secure licensing through Audiam, Inc., a digital royalty collection company, but asserts that Audiam was never granted such authority on its behalf. The lawsuit claims Meta 'willfully' encouraged its billions of users to use Eminem's music without a license and is not eligible for Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor protections due to its alleged knowledge and facilitation of the infringement. While some songs were reportedly removed from Meta platforms following complaints — including 'Lose Yourself' — Eight Mile Style maintains that unauthorized covers and instrumental versions of the rapper's music remain accessible. The company is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per song, per platform — potentially amounting to over $1 million — along with actual damages, lost profits, and a permanent injunction against the continued unlicensed use of Eminem's music. Eight Mile Style has also requested a jury trial.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eminem Sues Meta for Unauthorized Use of His Music, Damages Could Exceed $1 Million
Eminem is suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatApp, for alleged unauthorized distribution of his songs without a valid license through the use of Reels Remix and Original Audio. Potential damages could be more than $1 million as Eight Mile Style is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per song, per platform. The 'Lose Yourself' rapper filed the suit on May 30 in Michigan through his production company Eight Mile Style. The suit, obtained by TheWrap, alleges that Eminem's songs were made available in Meta's 'Music Libraries' and were used in user-generated content via tools like Reels Remix and Original Audio, resulting in the songs being used in millions of videos and streamed billions of times. The legal paperwork states that Meta sought to obtain licenses through Audiam, Inc., a digital royalty collection and payment engine, authority which Eight Mile Style says it did not grant to Audiam. In the suit, the Mark Zuckerberg company is accused of 'rampant infringement' of Eight Mile Compositions,' but also of 'knowing infringement,' going on to state that the company 'encourag[ed] billions of users of its online services to do so, all willfully, and without a license.' The paperwork also claims, 'Thus, as Meta knows, it does not enjoy and is not eligible for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's ('DMCA') safe harbor provisions.' Despite removing some songs after complaints, such 'Lose Yourself', the suit claims that the company 'continues to host unauthorized cover and instrumental versions.' Eight Mile Style is also seeking actual damages, lost profits, and a permanent injunction against unlicensed usage of the Oscar winner's music. The company has requested a jury trial. TheWrap has reached out to Meta for comment. The post Eminem Sues Meta for Unauthorized Use of His Music, Damages Could Exceed $1 Million appeared first on TheWrap.
