Emperor

UK licensing bodies have announced a “pioneering” collective licence that will allow authors to be paid for the use of their works to train generative AI models.

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) – which is directed by the Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), representing publishers and authors – will develop the licence, set to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Expected to be made available to AI developers this summer, it will allow copyright holders “who are not in a position to negotiate direct licensing agreements with AI developers” to be paid for the use of their works.

“When we surveyed our members last year, they made it clear that they expect us to do something about their works being used to train AI,” said ALCS CEO Barbara Hayes. 81% of respondents said that they would want to be part of a collective licensing solution if ALCS was able to secure compensation for the use of writers’ works to train AI in cases where individual, case-by-case licensing is not a viable option.

The announcement comes as the UK government reviews responses to a consultation on its proposals for a copyright exemption for text and data mining, allowing AI companies to freely use copyrighted works unless rights holders opt out. The new licence “shows that a copyright exception is neither necessary nor desirable”, said the ALCS.

The government’s proposal “would give very limited choice, wouldn’t remunerate creators or provide any transparency about which works are being used”, said Hayes.

The collective licence, on the other hand, “will further demonstrate that licensing is the answer and can provide a market-based solution that is efficient and effective”, said Mat Pfleger, the CEO of CLA.

Britain's economy will be among the hardest hit by the global trade war and inflation is set to climb, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned – as it slashed its UK growth forecast by a third.

In a sobering set of projections, the Washington-based organisation said it was grappling with "extremely high levels of policy uncertainty" - and the global economy would slow even if countries manage to negotiate a permanent reduction in tariffs from the US.

Echoing earlier warnings about the risks to the global financial system, the IMF said stock markets could fall even more sharply than they did in the aftermath of Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, when US and UK indices recorded some of their largest one-day falls since the pandemic.

It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to meet her US counterpart Scott Bessent at the IMF's spring gathering in Washington this week.

She is hoping to negotiate a reduction to the 10% baseline tariff the US president has applied to all UK goods. Steel, aluminium and car exports face an additional 25% tariff.

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The UK economy is expected to grow by just 1.1% this year, down 0.5 percentage points from the 1.6% the IMF was predicting in January. Growth picks up to 1.4% next year, still 0.1 percentage points lower than the January forecast.

Along with recent tariff announcements, the IMF blamed the UK's poor performance on a rise in government borrowing costs, which has in part been triggered by growing unease among investors over the fate of the US economy.

When borrowing costs rise, the chancellor has to rein in public spending or raise taxes to meet her fiscal rules. That can weigh on economic growth.

It also pointed to problems in the domestic economy, mainly "weaker private consumption amid higher inflation as a result of regulated prices and energy costs".

In a blow to the chancellor, the IMF warned that the UK would experience one of the largest upticks in inflation because of utility bill increases that took effect in April.

It upgraded its inflation forecast by 0.7 percentage points to 3.1% for 2025, taking it even higher above the Bank of England's 2% target and deepening the dilemma for central bankers who are also grappling with weak growth.

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/27576125

X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted.

A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House.

Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly averted being struck off last month for failing to file the accounts on time, according to other recent filings to Companies House. It only filed full accounts on Monday for 2023, the year in which it was rebranded as X after Musk’s takeover.

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Its overall revenue totalled £69.1m, down from £205.3m in 2022, a decrease of 66.3% year-on-year. The profit for 2023 dropped from £5.6m the previous year to £1.2m. Pre-tax profits were 74% lower at £2.25 million. This was a “significant decrease in the performance of the company”, it said.

Musk’s takeover also led to a wave of sackings, with the billionaire telling the BBC in 2023 that only 1,500 of about 8,000 Twitter employees were still employed at the company in that year.

In the UK, the accounts show that the number of the company’s employees fell to 114, from 399 the previous year. This included a cut of 173 to the number employed in “research and development”.

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Musk set up a new company in the UK at the end of last year amid speculation that he was planning to make a large donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

The company, called X.AI London, was incorporated on 12 December. It was recorded as being engaged in “business and domestic software development” and is based at the same London offices as X.

X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted.

A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House.

Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly averted being struck off last month for failing to file the accounts on time, according to other recent filings to Companies House. It only filed full accounts on Monday for 2023, the year in which it was rebranded as X after Musk’s takeover.

...

Its overall revenue totalled £69.1m, down from £205.3m in 2022, a decrease of 66.3% year-on-year. The profit for 2023 dropped from £5.6m the previous year to £1.2m. Pre-tax profits were 74% lower at £2.25 million. This was a “significant decrease in the performance of the company”, it said.

Musk’s takeover also led to a wave of sackings, with the billionaire telling the BBC in 2023 that only 1,500 of about 8,000 Twitter employees were still employed at the company in that year.

In the UK, the accounts show that the number of the company’s employees fell to 114, from 399 the previous year. This included a cut of 173 to the number employed in “research and development”.

...

Musk set up a new company in the UK at the end of last year amid speculation that he was planning to make a large donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

The company, called X.AI London, was incorporated on 12 December. It was recorded as being engaged in “business and domestic software development” and is based at the same London offices as X.

A “notorious” Iranian-backed criminal network has been sanctioned by the UK Government, the Foreign Office has said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the sanctions were made following violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.

Swedish-based Foxtrot Network, and its leader Rawa Majid, are now subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and director disqualification.

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“This forms part of the UK Government’s ongoing response to Iranian hostilities in Europe.

“Last month, we announced that Iran will be placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) and to date, the UK has sanctioned more than 450 Iranian individuals and entities, in response to the regime’s human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme and malign influence internationally.

“The UK Government will continue to hold the Iranian regime and criminals acting on its behalf to account.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/27573974

The growing debate over the future of intellectual property law in the age of AI took a wild turn in the past few days when Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and Block, and initially a leading figure at Bluesky, declared he would like to see all IP law eliminated.

“Delete all IP law,” Dorsey wrote on X on Friday (April 11).

Elon Musk, owner of X and head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), chimed in by saying “I agree.”

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Ed Newton-Rex, a former VP of Audio at Stability AI and now a leading campaigner for the protection of intellectual property, described Dorsey and Musk’s assertion as “tech execs declaring all-out war on creators who don’t want their life’s work pillaged for profit.”

Pushback also came from Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, patent specialist and lawyer who served as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate in the 2024 election.

“Actual IP professional here – NO,” she wrote in response to Dorsey’s tweet. “IP law is the only thing separating human creations from AI creations. If you want to reform it, let’s talk!”

To which Dorsey responded: “Creativity is what currently separates us, and the current system is limiting that, and putting the payments disbursement into the hands of gatekeepers who aren’t paying out fairly.”

Notably, Dorsey is Chairman of Block, Inc., the company formerly known as Square, which owns music streaming service TIDAL.

Dorsey’s tweet likely doesn’t reflect official TIDAL policy on the issue of IP. The company’s CEO, Jesse Dorogusker, told MBW a few years ago that he views music as being “undervalued and underpriced.”

One can only imagine what the value of music would look like if copyright protections were to disappear altogether. It would not be a stretch to imagine that its value would fall close to zero, along with the value of other commercialized cultural products, and the value of labor carried out by artists and other creators.

Responding to Dorsey, some on social media pointed out that Dorsey’s own businesses have benefited from IP protections.

“Very easy to say after you’ve made billions off your IP,” one commenter wrote.

The audiodrama that has got a few mentions on here before switches from BBC Radio 4 to Kickstarter. Not sure why, as it has gone down well at the Beeb but that is how they are doing things.

Good, bad, indifferent?

Let us know how it went.

A woman has been placed on the sex offenders register and been ordered to attend counselling after licking an MSP’s neck.

Elspeth Wood approached a member of the Scottish Parliament while they were out campaigning for the general election on May 27, 2024.

She made a sexual comment towards the MSP before hugging and licking them on the neck.

The 57-year-old pled guilty to acting in a threatening and abusive manner towards an elected official, an offence under Section 38(1) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, in February.

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A non-harassment order, stopping her from contacting her victim, was also granted for a three-year period.

The sheriff accepted the prosecutor’s submissions that there was a significant sexual element to the offence, and placed Wood on the sex offenders register for the same period.

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