British rights society PRS for Music has launched legal proceedings on March 4 against Valve Corporation, the parent company of Steam, for the unlicensed use of copyrighted repertoire from PRS by the gaming platform. "Since its launch in 2003, Valve has never obtained a license for its use of the rights managed by PRS on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers," said PRS for Music in a statement, to explain the reason behind the proceedings. Steam, which brands itself as the ulti...

The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), the Authors’ Union (Auteursbond), and writers’ rights organisation Lira Foundation have sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta, enjoining the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to using copyrighted material written by Dutch authors, reporters, and translators to train its Llama artificial intelligence models. NVJ General Secretary Thomas Bruning said the letter was a first step. If Meta fails to address the issue exposed in the letter, the organ...

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a judgment of the Southern District of New York which granted US rights society BMI a 138% increase in royalty rates for performance rights paid by the live sector. Live industry organisation North American Concert Promoters Association (NACPA) appealed a 2023 ruling from District Judge Louis L. Stanton, who awarded BMI the increase in royalties after the two parties failed to reach a rate and a revenue based through negotiation. The district c...