The people who'd file them just became investors.
Universal, Sony and Warner Music all took equity in Stability AI's $76M round, alongside Electronic Arts. First time all three majors have done it at once.
The plan a lot of US had
"It's trained on stolen work, the courts will sort it out." The three biggest rights-holders in music just answered that.
What gets built next is licensed
Universal signed October 2025, Warner November 2025, generative tools trained on catalogue they have permission to use.
Legally clean cuts both ways
A licensed model is one you can use on a client job. It's also one your client's legal department will finally approve.
What it isn't
Music and games, no film studio, no network is in this round. Copyright cases are still live. Don't overstate it.
Nobody mentioned the artists
No royalty structure. No consultation process. Labels got equity. Catalogue got licensed. The people who made it got a press release.
Permission is the asset
How much were you counting on the copyright fight to slow this down?