#TheWeeklyRoundUp - 23.06.23

RIAA asks Discord to shut ‘AI Hub’ server on copyright grounds (Music Ally) The latest frontier for tensions over the use of generative AI technology to create ‘deepfakes’ of famous artists is on Discord. US labels body the RIAA has written to the social platform asking it to shut down a Discord server called ‘AI Hub’ on copyright grounds. “This server(s) is/are dedicated to infringing our members’ copyrighted sound recordings by offering, selling, linking to, hosting, streaming, and/or distributing files containing our members’ sound recordings without authorization,” claimed the letter, which has been published by TorrentFreak. It reported that the Discord, which has more than 142,000 members, had been pointing people to voice models of artists including Bruno Mars, Frank Sinatra, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder, which could be used to make deepfaked tracks impersonating those singers. However, it is unclear if that’s the reason for the letter, or rather datasets that include infringing tracks. Discord is being used by a growing number of artists in a positive way as a community-building platform. However, it has fallen foul of the RIAA before – in 2022 the body took action against servers hosting copyrighted (and in some cases pre-release) music. Meanwhile, global body the IFPI has also warned about the growing pre-release leaks groups using Discord.

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Rihanna appoints new CEO for Savage X Fenty (BizCommunity)

Music superstar and business mogul Rihanna is stepping down from her role as CEO of her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. She is being replaced by former CEO of Anthropologie Group, Hillary Super.

According to Vogue, Rihanna will remain executive chair. In an interview with 40 Over 40, Super said she wants to be a relatable leader.

“I take my responsibility as a role model very seriously. It is important to be able to visualize your future and I hope that I am helping the young women on my team do that being a strong, kind, relatable leader but also by being resilient and fearless when things don’t go as planned,” said Super.

Savage X Fenty is a partnership between LVMH, Rihanna and several investors.