Top News:
Scott Macfarlane / CBS News:
The Trump administration fired US Copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter; her office had raised concerns about xAI using copyrighted content to train AI — The Trump administration has fired the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, two sources familiar with the situation confirmed to CBS News Saturday.
Discussion:
Politico, Committee on House …, Law Dork, Music Ally, Washington Post, UPI, Cedar Boschan on LinkedIn, @macfarlanenews, Courtney Radsch, PhD on LinkedIn, @kortizart, Fox News, TechCrunch, WTIC, The Ankler, @repjoemorelle, @mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.social, @khshan.bsky.social, The Verge, Kevin Erickson on LinkedIn, Music Business Worldwide, The Hill, Digital Music News, Axios, Business Insider, Copyright Lately, @mrddmia, Drew Thurlow on LinkedIn, Susan Dodes on LinkedIn, @leap44.bsky.social, @jedbrown@hachyderm.io, @lisalibrarian.bsky.social, @americalabs.org, Edward Lee on LinkedIn, Bloomberg and @justinhendrix.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
The Guardian:
Sources: the UK Foreign Office asks the BBC World Service to draw up a budget of up to £70M per year lower than the BBC management says it needs — Exclusive: David Lammy asks BBC bosses to draw up tightened budget amid criticism move could harm UK's global influence
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
YouTube suspends several fake movie trailer channels from its partner program after an investigation showed the scale of AI-generated fake movie trailers — YouTube has further cracked down on fake movie trailer channels. — The video giant has suspended ad revenue on Screen Trailers and Royal Trailer …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Max Tani / Semafor:
G. Elliott Morris, the data journalist who took over 538 in 2023, launches Strength In Numbers, a paid Substack; his relationship with ABC deteriorated in 2024 — The Scoop — The former head of 538, shuttered last year by ABC News, is building a new media outlet aimed at recapturing …
Discussion:
Strength In Numbers
Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
How OpenDNS, Cloudflare, and Google responded to EU court orders to block DNS resolution for pirate sites; OpenDNS left France and Belgium instead of complying — The frontline of online piracy liability keeps moving, and core internet infrastructure providers are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs.
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
A look at the costs, incentives, benefits, and tradeoffs of filming in California as experienced by the show Fallout, which is shooting its second season in CA — The show's producer, Jonathan Nolan, has put himself at the forefront of Hollywood's push to get California to approve $750 million in tax rebates.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Sony Pictures' Motion Picture Group Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman signs a multiyear contract extension, making him the longest-serving film chief in Hollywood — It's official: Tom Rothman has signed a multiyear extension of his contract as chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures' Motion Picture Group.
Zach Schonfeld / The Guardian:
The line between documentaries and PR is blurring as streaming platforms opt for docs produced by the subjects themselves and shy away from controversy — As Netflix scraps an epic series exploring the Purple Rain star's complexities, and Max takes down Leaving Neverland, we ask …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Propagate Content acquires a majority stake in Parker, which represents dozens of influencers; sources: CAA Evolution is raising money to buy YouTube channels — Streaming services, talent agencies and studios are throwing money at social media influencers (and their managers)
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Court filing: internal Pornhub documents show it had 706K videos in May 2020 flagged for child rape or other problems, often not removed until flagged 16+ times — What goes through the minds of people working at porn companies profiting from videos of children being raped?
Discussion:
@elisethomas.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
WMG launches the WMG Pulse app in beta to let artists and their teams access real-time information about streaming performance and more across various platforms — Warner Music Group has launched a new app called WMG Pulse, described as a “powerful new platform that puts clear …
CNN:
Memo: the Pentagon orders all military academies to identify and remove books from their libraries promoting “divisive concepts” like race and gender ideology — The Pentagon has ordered all military academies to identify and remove books from their libraries that deal with issues such as race …
Discussion:
New York Times, ZeroHedge News, @carnage4life@mas.to, @maryannefranks.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @joestieb.bsky.social, @adamserwer.bsky.social, The Guardian, @peterbakernyt.bsky.social, Reuters, UPI, New York Times, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Stars & Stripes, Stars & Stripes, The Hill, MSNBC, @dburbach.bsky.social, Military and Veteran …, The Daily Caller, @lesleypitman.bsky.social, @natashabertrand.bsky.social, @paleofuture.bsky.social, Associated Press and @jeffjarvis.bsky.social
