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 …
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Thurrott, Fox Business, Fortune, Popular Information, Silicon Republic, @mattrosoff.bsky.social, Digit, Tech Xplore, The Information, The A.V. Club, Silicon UK, Forbes, Publishers Weekly, CMU, Windows Report, TechSpot, Wall Street Journal, Music Ally, NBC News, MEDIANAMA, Business Today, The Rundown AI, JURISTnews, Decrypt, Business Insider, BBC, Bloomberg Law, 80 Level, Wired, SFist, SiliconANGLE and IPWatchdog.com, more at Techmeme »
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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 …
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Reuters, Publishers Weekly, UPI, KnowTechie, Authors Alliance, Shelly Palmer, eWeek, Engadget, The Decoder, Variety, The Economic Times, Mashable, The Hans India, @isaiahporitz, WinBuzzer, The Information, Maginative, SiliconANGLE, Digit, Cryptopolitan, implicator.ai, Newser, Benzinga, CNBC, TechCrunch, The Verge, Financial Times, The Japan Times, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and Proactiveinvestors UK, more at Techmeme »
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
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The Verge, The Guardian, Press Gazette, The Hollywood Reporter, Advanced Television, Reuters, BBC, Variety, Decode TV, TVNewsCheck, Michael Savage on LinkedIn, @mediaevan.bsky.social, Broadband TV News, Telegraph, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Streaming Better, Rebecca Glashow on LinkedIn, @socialmedialab.ca and Deadline
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.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube launches an AI Overviews-like carousel for searches related to shopping, places, and things to do in a specific place, for Premium users in the US — YouTube is rolling out new AI-powered features to help users find content and information more easily, the company announced on Thursday.
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YouTube Official Blog and Android Authority, more at Techmeme »
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
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People, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacTech.com, MacRumors, Mirror, MacDailyNews, Parker Ortolani, Moviefone News, Variety and The Rebound, more at Techmeme »
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
Discussion:
Marketing Dive, TVNewsCheck, @mediaevan and Adweek
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Amazon says Prime Video in India caters to “subscription-ready” customers while Amazon MX Player is aimed at those transitioning from traditional media — Amazon is playing a dual-platform game in India's competitive streaming landscape, with Prime Video targeting subscription-ready consumers …
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BMI, MediaNews4U, Advanced Television, C21Media, WORLD SCREEN, The Hollywood Reporter and Fortune India
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 …
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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 …
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Decode TV, The A.V. Club, Financial Times, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Deadline, The Guardian, Fox News, Raw Story, The Wrap, @dfriedman.bsky.social, HotAir, Media Play News, @jeremyschulman.bsky.social, NewsMax.com, TVNewsCheck, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social and Status
Financial Times:
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman warns against companies trying to game the site with AI-generated content, saying “human verification is top of mind for us right now” — Chief Steve Huffman warns of ‘arms race’ to protect its devoted online communities from AI-generated content
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9to5Mac, @eicathomefinn.bsky.social and Cryptopolitan
Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:
DirecTV experiments with discontinuing satellite TV subscriptions for new customers in several US regions and directing subscribers toward its streaming option — DIRECTV, a leading provider of television entertainment, has announced a significant shift in its service offerings …
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The Wrap, The TV Answer Man!, How-To Geek, TVNewsCheck, Variety and Market Research Reports
