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Getty Images Suit Over AI Copyright Goes To Trial In London This Week

Opening arguments before a judge at the British High Court began on Monday. The trial could last for three weeks followed by a written decision from the judge expected at a later date. - AP News

Disney And Universal Sue AI Companies Over Copyright

They are the first major Hollywood studios to file copyright infringement lawsuits, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing fight by artists, newspapers and content makers to stop AI firms from using their work as training data — or at least make them pay for it. - Washington Post

After Decades Of Trying, Republicans May Finally Get To Kill Funding For Public Broadcasting Today

The bill, known on Capitol Hill as a “rescissions” proposal, is the closest NPR and PBS have ever come to a complete loss of federal funding. The bill would strip all federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. - CNN

At BET Awards, Stars Call Out Trump Administration

Doechii, the Grammy-winning rapper, and entertainment mogul Tyler Perry made overt statements about the current administration and its multi-pronged attacks on communities of color. - The Contrarian

The Duplass Brothers Are Bringing The Indie Film Studio Business Model To TV

“Traditionally, TV creators pitch ideas for shows to big studios, which (front) the money to get the project rolling and then own the final product. … Duplass Brothers Productions acts as its own studio by assuming the financial risk to make its series itself (it knows how to keep budgets low).” - Vulture (MSN)

Paramount Global Is Laying Off Another 3.5% Of Its US Workforce

Less than a year after reducing its stateside payroll by 15% (roughly 2,000 employees), the entertainment conglomerate is eliminating another several hundred jobs — this as it awaits FCC approval of its long-planned merger with Skydance Media. - Variety

Actors Unions Make Deal with Video Game Producers After Strike Over AI

With the strike, the union took a stand against proposed AI terms that leaders claimed would have allowed companies to undercut members and their position in the workplace. - The Hollywood Reporter

The Great Unwinding: Warner Discovery Will Break Up

The decision to split is a major about-face from the conventional wisdom in the industry when Warner Bros. Discovery was created three years ago — that media companies needed to get bigger to compete with streaming giants like Netflix. - The New York Times

How Irving Thalberg Helped Create Hollywood’s Golden Age

Thalberg produced some three or four hundred movies in his years at M-G-M, ranging from big pictures like “Mutiny on the Bounty” to the Marx Brothers’ late-career hit, “A Night at the Opera,” though he left his name on almost none. - The New Yorker

Federal Judge Rules That Corporation For Public Broadcasting Is Independent And Trump Cannot Unilaterally Sack Its Board Members

While the U.S. District Court didn’t explicitly and directly reverse Trump’s removal of three CPB board members, it affirmed that Congress created CPB to be an independent, private nonprofit free of executive branch control. The Corporation’s CEO subsequently confirmed that board membership remains as it was. - Inside Radio

After Two-Year Struggle, Disney Buys Full Control Of Hulu (For Far Less Than Comcast Wanted)

In December 2023, in an initial payment toward the Hulu purchase, Disney agreed to give Comcast/NBCUniversal $8.61 billion — one-third of the $27.5 billion guaranteed floor value for Hulu as of 2019. Following arbitration, Disney is paying a further $438.7 million — less than one-tenth of the valuation Comcast was seeking. - Variety

Rural America Will Be The Loser If Congress Defunds Public Broadcasting

“This would disproportionately harm rural areas and smaller communities, where public media really is a lifeline,” said Tim Richardson of PEN America. - The Guardian

Why Are There So Many TV Shows Now About Rich People?

Lately, most of television seems stuck in the same mode. Virtually everything I’ve watched recently has been some variation of rich people pottering around in “aspirational” compounds. - The Atlantic

Why Hollywood Left Los Angeles

“As the labor of making movies and shows splinters across far-flung cities and countries, Hollywood has become dislodged from its physical home.” - Vulture

Inside The Whisper Campaign To Unseat The Bear

“What happened to take The Bear from Emmy battering ram to awards also-ran in the span of only a few months? According to multiple writers on various comedy series, it seems like an undercurrent of industry resentment toward The Bear played a part.” - Vulture

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