The new agreement also comes after a lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against music generation startups Udio and Suno for training their AI models using copyrighted music. Meta, on the other hand, claims to use only "Meta-owned and specifically licensed music" for training its AI models. This is the first time that WhatsApp users can share licensed music from UMG, and it also includes Threads, Meta's social networking app. Meta and UMG first partnered in 2017, allowing Facebook users to share videos featuring songs from UMG's catalog.
Key takeaways:
- Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) have expanded their multi-year music licensing agreement, allowing users to share UMG's music across Meta's platforms without copyright violation.
- The new agreement addresses the issue of unauthorized AI-generated content, referring to songs being scraped by AI systems often without the original creators' consent.
- This partnership follows a feud between TikTok and UMG earlier this year over concerns about AI and online safety on the platform, which was resolved in May.
- For the first time, WhatsApp users can share licensed music from UMG within the app, and the agreement also includes Threads, a Meta-owned social networking app.