The multi-year music licensing deal between Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) was expanded on Monday. This allows users to share songs from UMG’s music collection across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Horizon, Threads, and WhatsApp, without breaking any copyright laws.
The new agreement is noteworthy primarily because it specifies that the two companies are dealing with “unauthorized AI-generated content.” This is the term used to describe songs that are lifted by AI systems, frequently without the original artists’ permission. AI fakes and the usage of artists’ and songwriters’ work in AI businesses’ model training are issues that artists and songwriters are facing more and more.
Michael Nash, UMG’s chief digital officer and executive vice president, said in a statement, “We look forward to continuing to work together to address unauthorized AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters so that UMG can continue to protect their rights both now and in the future.”
The collaboration comes after TikTok and UMG got into a legal spat earlier this year over the removal of the label’s music library from the short-form video app. UMG stressed in a statement it made in February that it was worried about AI and user safety on the site. In May, the two businesses declared a ceasefire, resuming the posting of music on TikTok by artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.
The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents UMG and other major labels, sued Udio and Suno, two startups in the music generation space, over AI-related issues, just after the new agreement was reached. According to the lawsuit, copyrighted music was used by the two corporations to train their AI models. Sudo openly acknowledged use copyrighted music earlier this month, but he insisted that it was acceptable under fair use.
On the other hand, according to its website, Meta exclusively releases generative AI models (AudioCraft, MusicGen, and Jasco) that have been trained with “Meta-owned and specifically licensed music,” indicating that it is adopting an ethical approach to AI music. Nevertheless, as Kyle Wiggers of TechCrunch points out, Meta has admitted that AudioCraft might be abused to produce a deepfake voice.
Furthermore, users of WhatsApp can now exchange licensed music from UMG within the instant messaging app for the first time. It also features Twitter’s direct rival, Threads, a social networking software that is owned by Meta.
When Meta and UMG originally teamed up in 2017, it was the first time a major label let consumers upload and share films showcasing songs from its catalog on Facebook.