The latest episode of the Daily Variety podcast Variety Journalists are analyzing recent Jousts between Hollywood and major AI companies in a raging copyright fight in federal courts. Reporter Ethan Schampfeld categorizes who is rising among cast members on Saturday Night Live, who is there, and who is out as the late-night flagship completes season 51 players.
Gene Madaus, VarietyThe senior media writer has been covering AI-related lawsuits on a daily basis since 2023. He and business editor Todd Spangler analyzed the importance of the recent $1.5 billion settlement that AI companies have reached with the author's collection. They are also looking into recent news that Warner Bros Discovery has joined Disney and NBCuniversal in an infringement lawsuit against AI company Midjourney.
Maddaus explains that the central question of many conflicts is whether they use existing copyrighted works to train AI databases and platforms, violating copyright laws. Advocates of the AI realm have argued that it falls under the “fair use” standard, which limits the restrictions that copyright holders can impose, particularly in the context of journalism and media.
“The big question people are trying to understand is that AI itself trains piracy? And certainly there are a lot of people in Hollywood unions that I think it is. There's something called the Human Arts Campaign. “The legal cases we've seen so far don't support that perspective. There were two federal governments. [decisions] In June, both decided that AI training was fundamentally transformative and therefore fair use. It's not an absolute license to do anything you want to do. However, it is a very strong indication that the courts view this as a transformative use that is essentially uncopyrighted. ”
Spangler points out that Hollywood's biggest entertainment conglomerate must follow a subtle line of trying to regulate AI overreach without limiting its unique ability to use AI-related technologies in production and other business operations.
“The studio wants to be able to use the generator AI if it makes sense to them,” Spangler said. “By drawing these lines around this particular case [involving Midjourney]they don't want to tie their hands. ”
We look forward to the new season of NBC's Saturday Night Live, the bow on October 4th. Shanfeld discusses the crazy dash that occurs between top comedy agents and managers every year at the end of the summer. When “SNL” boss Lorne Michaels makes the final decision on his newly returned cast member, there is a ripple effect across the realm of comedy.
“SNL” is a highly sought after and coveted slot. But today, the up-and-coming comedy star has many options to build a career. So, “SNL” may not always be the right choice for someone lucky enough to get that call from Michaels. Newly appointed “SNL” cast member Veronika Srowikowska is a prime example of someone who has built a grassroots career on social media.
“I spoke with agents and managers who refused 'SNL' and decided that careers would be better off not joining 'SNL',” says Shanfeld. “We're in an age where comedy films are less and comedy television shows are being produced more than they were a decade ago, and we still believe that “SNL” is one of the comedy things people tune every week. [comedians] All of these things need to be weighed as they are an intern discalculation channel on the internet for all of these people. You can shoot yourself on your iPhone and go directly to your audience on Tiktok. “SNL” must compete with not only other studios, but also with all the funny guys in Tiktok, Instagram and bedrooms. ”
(Photo: “Saturday Night Live” star Sara Shaman and newly appointed cast member Veronica Slorikouska)
