Interface News Reporter | Intern Reporter Li Yanhui Reporter Huangyue
Interface News Editor | Huangyue
Every Saturday, "Cultural Weekly" summarizes and presents to you the major and minor events worth knowing about in the foreign literary and art circles, publishing industry, and bookstore industry in the past week. This week we are concerned about the AI song generator being sued for infringement, the Hollywood film and television industry union and the company reaching a preliminary agreement to avoid strikes, and Paris committed to creating the most sustainable Olympic Games in history.
01 ai song generator was sued for infringement, aigc affects young people's literacy
Recently, music including Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Records, Universal Music Group Recordings The production company filed a lawsuit in court in the United States, accusing artificial intelligence song generators Suno and Audio of copyright infringement.
The lawsuit contends that artificial intelligence song generation software suno and audio "steal" songs from music production companies to "spit out" similar works. The lawsuit seeks compensation of up to $150,000 per piece from the company that created the two artificial intelligence music generators.
suno ai company released suno, the first artificial intelligence music generator that charges users a monthly fee in 2023. In March this year, it released a new version v3. Udio was developed by developer Uncharted Labs in April this year and raised millions of dollars in funding. Mikey Shulman, CEO of
suno AI, said the technology is "revolutionary" and "designed to output entirely new content rather than memorizing and repeating existing music," noting that the software does not Allows users to reference a specific artist. Schulman has been trying to explain this to the established music companies, but "instead of having a sincere discussion," they have fallen back on "the old routine of letting lawyers sort things out."
Image source: Visual China
Music production company accuses Suno and Audio users of having been able to "create" songs with characteristics of certain singers, and can also generate "indistinguishable" songs including Michael Jackson The voices of deceased musicians. Music production companies say companies making artificial intelligence music generators have "deliberately avoided" discussing the materials they use to train artificial intelligence, saying the materials are not only "deliberately infringing copyright" but also "unimaginably large".
Mitch Glazier, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, said in a statement that the music industry is working with responsible AI developers, but companies like Suno and Audio It’s unfair for companies to “steal a musician’s life’s work for profit” without permission or payment, and it hinders true “artificial intelligence innovation” in the music field.
Artificial intelligence has always been a hot topic in the music industry, but its possibility and legality in creating music have always been controversial. In March this year, Tennessee became the first state in the United States to pass legislation to protect songwriters, singers and other professionals in the music industry from potential threats from artificial intelligence. This lawsuit is also another lawsuit filed against developers of generative artificial intelligence, following the book publishing industry, news media and other content creation industries.
On January 10, 2024 local time, in Tennessee, the United States, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the Ensuring Sound and Image Security (ELVIS) Act at a press conference at rca Records.
In addition to the creative industry, the daily use of generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) also has "potential risks." A recent survey by the National Literacy Trust in the UK showed that teenagers are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence to help them learn, raising concerns about the development of young people's literacy skills.
A survey conducted by the foundation among 5,300 British teenagers aged 8-18 found that 39.6% of teenagers who have used AIGC use it to help them write, and more than a quarter of teenagers use it to help reading. 74.2% of teenagers aged 13-18 said that they used AIGC out of curiosity, and 1/5 admitted that when they used generative AI to write homework, they just copied the answers.The
foundation and teachers are concerned that young people using AIGC to learn do not have the literacy skills needed to "use it effectively, critically and safely". Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust, said that from writing to the invention of generative artificial intelligence, the meaning of literacy has been changing with the development of people's communication technology. Today, literacy needs to include using AIGC effectively, critically and creatively, and while education systems struggle to keep up with the rapid growth of technology, "we need to redefine what 'literacy' means in the new technological world."
02 The film and television industry union and the company reached a preliminary agreement that there will be no new strikes in Hollywood this year
In 2023, a strike swept the entire Hollywood. On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America West announced a strike. 148 days later, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached an agreement to end the strike. However, the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA), which joined the strike on July 14, 2023, did not resume work with the Writers Guild of America at the end of September, and it did not officially end until 00:10 a.m. local time on November 9, 2023. strike.
Recently, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (iatse) and AMPTP announced that they have reached a three-year preliminary agreement with Disney, Netflix and other companies on salary, artificial intelligence protection and other aspects. The agreement is expected to affect about 50,000 related employees. Industry practitioners.
Relevant people pointed out that after this preliminary agreement is reached, it is unlikely that there will be another major strike in Hollywood this year, which also makes Hollywood "relaxed." It is understood that after the general strike in Hollywood ended last year, its recovery speed was slower than expected. As the industry recovery slowed down and film and television production companies cut expenses, there were fewer and fewer job opportunities.
On July 26, 2023 local time, members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild of America marched on the cordon outside Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, USA.
Data from the non-profit organization Filmla shows that in the first quarter of 2024, film, TV series and other commercial production activities in the greater Los Angeles area were 20.5% lower than the average level of the past five years. In terms of movies, due to extended production schedules and fewer completed movies, Hollywood’s box office performance this year has dropped significantly compared to last year. Data from data tracking company prodpro also shows that compared with the same period in 2023, Hollywood's performance in the first quarter of 2024 lagged behind by about 7% globally.
However, the "Los Angeles Times" review also pointed out that the downturn in the film industry had already begun before last year's strike. After years of overspending to catch up with Netflix in the streaming "war," entertainment giants have chosen new measures - to be more cautious about new projects and slow down the pace of content production.
But in any case, the conclusion of this agreement has also won benefits for practitioners in related industries. The agreement stipulates that wage standards will be increased by 7%, 4% and 3.5% respectively within three years. Staff who work more than 15 hours a day will receive three times their wages. The film company will also pay additional money to make up for the union's medical insurance. Budget gap.
Last week, nearly 400 industry workers, including Mark Ruffalo, who plays "The Hulk" in the Marvel series of movies, jointly signed an open letter in support of the union, which mentioned that in order to To bring the story to life, the crew worked long hours in challenging circumstances and dedicated their lives to their art and work, so it was vital that they “be able to work safely and be paid fairly.” “Without the crew, the ship Can't move."
03 Recyclable, no air conditioning: Paris is committed to creating the "most sustainable" Olympics in history
The Olympic Games will be held in Paris, France next month. The Paris Olympic Organizing Committee said they will host a "historic" the most responsible and sustainable Olympic Games.
A hundred years ago, when Paris last hosted the Olympics, the organizing committee built the first-ever Olympic Village in order to bring athletes together under one roof.This summer, Olympic athletes will not live in buildings tailor-made for them. The Paris Olympic Organizing Committee has renovated some existing buildings and announced that after the Paralympic Games this year, the Olympic Village will be renovated to accommodate 6,000 people. offices and apartments for 6,000 people.
Interior view of the Olympic Village in Lille, France, June 24, 2024 local time.
The organizing committee hopes that the plan to renovate the Olympic Village will contribute to alleviating Paris's rental crisis - it is becoming increasingly difficult to buy or rent a house in Paris amid rising interest rates, soaring rents and tight housing supply. But there are risks in such pre-commitments. Before the 2012 London Olympics, the London government made similar promises, but most of these promises fell through. A 2022 BBC survey showed that in the London Olympic Park Of the 9,000 houses, less than 200 are available for rent at the cheapest prices.
In addition, the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee also stated that this Olympics will use 100% renewable energy. One-third of the buildings where athletes will stay are equipped with solar panels on their roofs, and another third have rooftop gardens designed to lower indoor temperatures. Even the houses that athletes lived in are not the only things that can be recycled. The beds in the Paris Olympic Village are made of recyclable materials used in the Tokyo Olympics, which also means that these materials can be recycled quickly after the Olympics. use.
The refrigeration system in the Olympic Village has also come under scrutiny, with research pointing to "unbearable high temperatures" at the Games. Most of the athletes' residences will be cooled using geothermal systems, except for some Olympic Village buildings that will be converted into shops after the games and will be air-conditioned. The system will draw water from a 70-meter-deep well underground at a nearby geothermal power plant, cool it to 4 degrees Celsius, and transport it to pipes under the floors of each athlete's apartment. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told Reuters that while the Olympic Village would offer delegations concerned about the heat the option of renting personal air conditioners, she said the Games would still be successful even in "very, very high temperatures." Hoping to reduce the need for air conditioning, "We are on the edge of a cliff and everyone - including athletes - must realize this."
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024 /jun/25/record-labels-sue-ai-song-generator-apps-copyright-infringement-lawsuit
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/surge-in-young-peoples-use-of-generative-ai -prompts-concerns-about-literacy-skills
https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/jun/26/iatse-union-hollywood-deal
https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024 /jun/26/iatse-union-hollywood-deal
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