Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced on Monday the extension of their multi-year music license deal, allowing users to share songs from UMG's music library across Meta's platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Horizon, Threads, and WhatsApp) without infringing on copyright.
The most striking aspect of the new agreement is that it specifies that the two businesses would address "unauthorized AI-generated content." This refers to music being scraped by AI systems, typically without the permission of their original creators. Artists and composers are increasingly concerned about AI fakes and the usage of their work by AI businesses to train their models.
"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," said Michael Nash, chief digital officer and executive vice president of UMG, in a statement.
The deal comes after TikTok's battle with UMG earlier this year, when the label's music collection was pulled from the short-form video app. In a statement issued in February, UMG expressed worries about AI and online safety on the platform. In May, the two businesses agreed to a truce, enabling music from artists such as Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift to return on TikTok.
The new deal follows an AI-related lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America (which represents UMG and other major labels) against Udio and Suno, two music-generation firms. The lawsuit argues that the two corporations used copyrighted music to train their AI models. Sudo officially admitted to utilizing copyrighted songs earlier this month, but maintained that doing so was acceptable under fair use.
Meanwhile, Meta claims to be adopting an ethical approach to AI music, publishing only generative AI models (AudioCraft, MusicGen, and Jasco) that have been trained using "Meta-owned and specifically licensed music," according to its website. However, as reported by TechCrunch's Kyle Wiggers, Meta has admitted that AudioCraft might be used to build a deepfake of someone's voice.
Furthermore, this is the first time WhatsApp users can exchange licensed music from UMG within the instant messaging platform. It also features Threads, a social networking program owned by Meta and a direct competitor to X (Twitter).
Meta and UMG originally collaborated in 2017, marking the first time a major music label enabled Facebook users to submit and share videos containing songs from its catalog.