shadow libraries Archives

News Summary: Anthropic Wins Fair Use Ruling on AI Training, but Faces Billions over Pirated Library

The big news this week is that there has been a ruling in one of the major AI copyright cases, and the tech industry at this stage seems to have the most to cheer. But while there are implications for other claims, this is not a once-and-done case by any means.

News Podcast: Audiobook Downloads Surge, TikTok’s 8th Note Press Stalls, and AI Copyright Concerns Rise

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway covers strong UK audio growth, with audiobook downloads up 31 percent in 2024, and rising fiction sales led by romance. He previews a major London conference on copyright, AI, and shadow libraries, and reports that Mastodon has joined other platforms in adopting anti-scraping clauses. Finally, he looks at the apparent collapse of TikTok’s publishing venture, 8th Note Press, leaving some authors without sales or rights to their work.

TikTok Ban Deadline Extended Again; UK Conference Tackles AI and Piracy: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

I had approached filing the end-of-week news with the kind of trepidation that seems to come around on a regular cycle—a cycle that lasts as long as the latest TikTok ban deadline. But sure enough, as I sat down to write, the news came through that will be music to my editor’s ears. No last-minute rush (on this, at least). Sure enough, the deadline for the sale of TikTok’s operations in the United States has been extended by another ninety days and will not come into force this week. The third such extension this year, apparently, this time it really will lead to the closing of a deal to see TikTok in the U.S. into new, non-Chinese ownership. I fully anticipate reporting the same come September.