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12:55 PM ET, June 26, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A group of authors sue Microsoft in a NY federal court, claiming the company used nearly 200,000 pirated books without permission to train its Megatron AI model  —  Microsoft (MSFT.O) has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission …
RELATED:
Isaiah Poritz / Bloomberg Law:
A US judge rules that Meta's use of books to train Llama is protected by fair use but says his opinion is more a reflection of the plaintiffs' poor arguments  —  Meta Platforms Inc. escaped a first-of-its-kind copyright lawsuit from a group of authors who alleged the tech giant hoovered …
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Getty Images drops its primary claims of copyright infringement against Stability AI in UK court but is still pursuing other claims and a separate US lawsuit
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
The BBC launches a subscription of $49.99 per year, or $8.99 per month, for US users to get unlimited access to its news, features, and a BBC News livestream  —  Move is significant step forward in driving overseas revenue for the UK's public service broadcaster
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
As AI kills search traffic, Google launches Offerwall, a Google Ad Manager tool to help publishers generate revenue beyond ads, including via micropayments  —  Google's AI search features are killing traffic to publishers, so now the company is proposing a possible solution.
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
Testifying before Congress, Kari Lake said reform at USAGM “was not possible” but the CEOs of RFE/RL, RFA and MBN said she had not met with them even once  —  The senior adviser to the the U.S. Agency for Global Media said that she's rooting out waste and abuse.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple execs discussed starting their own theatrical distribution unit; Warner Bros. is distributing the F1 movie and getting a share of the box office  —  Six years after getting into entertainment, Apple lags behind its rivals in streaming subscribers and mainstream appeal, despite lavish spending on A-list stars
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
How brands are helping finance Hollywood projects in the planning stages and collaborating more closely with talent, distributors, and production companies  —  Marketers are pushing for their brands to appear in more movies and TV shows, and entertainment execs are adjusting the way things are done to let them in
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
DirecTV strikes a distribution agreement with Paramount Global, and unveils a $20/month MyKids plan with content from Paramount, Disney, WBD, and more  —  CBS-owned broadcast stations and cable networks like MTV, Paramount Network, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon are joining DirecTV's streaming genre-based packages.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: a mediator has proposed that Paramount settle Trump's lawsuit for $20M, which would include $17M to Trump's presidential foundation or museum  —  Potential settlement package would include a donation, legal costs and public service announcements  —  A mediator has proposed …
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
Report finds extensive overlap between colleges and public media outlets: 59% of public media orgs provide regular opportunities for college students  —  How much overlap and collaboration is there between public media and higher education?  —  That's the question a new report from the Center …
Discussion: Current
 
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 More News: 
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Antenna: US SVOD subscriptions grew 11% from March 2024 to March 2025; the average churn rate for premium SVOD services has hovered around 5% since January 2023
Discussion: MacTech.com
 Earlier Picks: 
Mike Janssen / Current:
Wisconsin Public Radio announces layoffs and ends four shows, citing funding pressure; report: 15 people were cut and WPR won't be filling several vacancies
Discussion: WPR
Sarah Clifton / Montgomery Advertiser:
Macon County, Alabama's economic development agency buys the 160-year-old The Tuskegee News, apparently the first newspaper purchase by a US development agency
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Culture Minister Chris Bryant says UK's high-end TV tax credits are very competitive with the rest of the world, after calls to increase them from 25% to 40%
Discussion: Los Angeles Times
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Memo: WaPo will test a “From the Source” feature, inviting sources named in articles to annotate the stories after publication, starting with climate stories
 

 
From Techmeme:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Similarweb: Threads had 141.5M DAUs on iOS and Android as of January 7, driven by Instagram promotions, while X had 125M DAUs; X continues to lead on the web

George Hammond / Financial Times:
Sources: Sequoia is planning a big investment in Anthropic, joining a round led by GIC and Coatue, which are investing $1.5B each; Anthropic aims to raise $25B+

Bradley Olson / Wall Street Journal:
Similarweb: Claude's web audience more than doubled in December 2025 compared with December 2024, as many coders spent their holiday breaks on a “Claude bender”
 
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