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Millions of videos are now MUTED on TikTok. Here’s Why You Should Care.
- propertylawsociety
- Feb 2, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 11, 2024
Written by: Shany Raitsin
Universal Music Group (UMG) announced this Thursday that it would be pulling its music from TikTok after both parties failed to reach a licensing agreement. As a result, millions of videos have been silenced on the app, and will continue to be muted as audios are copyright restricted.
UMG is perhaps best described as a behemoth of a music label, representing (or having previously represented) the likes of Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, etc. The licensing deal reached an impasse when both parties began lamenting the apparent greed of the other.
(Image Rights Belong to Variety: Pictured here is Eilish, who is under the UMG music label.)
Despite what UMG claimed to be “good faith efforts” in coming to the negotiating table with TikTok, UMG announced it could not strike a deal due to three unresolved critical issues. 1) appropriate compensation for artists and songwriters 2) protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI and 3) online safety for TikTok users.
Appropriate Compensation for Artists
UMG outlined its complaint on the first point in its open letter; “With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms play,” the letter continues. “Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenues and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue.”
Protecting Human Artists From AI
On the second point, UMG argued that TikTok is “allowing the platform to be flooded with AI generated recordings as well as developing tools to enable, promote, and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself—and then demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists,” UMPG says. “[This] move is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI.”.
There has been no shortage of discussion surrounding the regulation of AI in relation to copyright laws, and yet it seems as though the world has not yet landed on a clear solution to the legal issues AI poses. It is clear that artists’ rights to their works must be protected, however it is unclear how exactly these rights can be defended using copyright claims against AI generated music. Fair Use is often used to limit the copyright interests of the originating copyright owner, to balance the interests of copyright holders with the public interest in the wider distribution and use of creative works. So, the question stands; can AI-generated music trigger a valid use of the “Fair Use” defense?
In the Canadian legal context, we have a similar concept used as an exception to copyright infringement, known as “Fair Dealing” which is enumerated in s. 29 of the Copyright Act. In determining Fair Dealing, Courts normally consider factors such as;
the purpose of the dealing (Is it commercial or research / educational?)
the amount of the dealing (How much was copied?)
the character of the dealing (What was done with the work? Was it an isolated use or an ongoing, repetitive use? How widely was it distributed?)
alternatives to the dealing (Was the work necessary for the end result? Could the purpose have been achieved without using the work?)
the nature of the work (Is there a public interest in its dissemination? Was it previously unpublished?)
the effect of the dealing on the original work (Does the use compete with the market of the original work?)
Fair Use, by comparison, is codified in the U.S. under s. 107 of the Copyright Act, 1976. Courts will generally look at these 4 actors to ascertain if the use amounts to ‘fair’ use;
the purpose of use;
the nature of the work;
the amount of dealing;
the effect of dealing on the original work
While all 4 factors hold importance, the first and fourth factors are recognized to hold greater importance seeing as the purpose and effect of such use is more likely to determine if the use was fair.
From my own perspective, it seems that exceptions and defenses to copyright infringement such as Fair Use and Fair Dealing are unable to adequately address the very nature of AI’s utilization of the originating work — especially when it comes to music. We can think of AI as a tool for artistry in instances where it quite literally wields the voice of another artist for the creation of a completely new song. But in the same instance, we can also think of AI as a weapon in the dismantlement of artist’s rights to their own distinguishing feature — their voices. It’s a call back to a concept I refer to as the “Little Mermaid Quandary”: that perhaps, if we feel instinctively that co-opting someone else’s voice or likeness without their express consent is wrong, then we should follow this moral paradigm in our interpretation of copyright law.
One thing is certain from all this, UMG has now set a precedent and placed undisputed pressure on corporations like TikTok to regulate the use of AI.
In its open letter, UMG spins allegations of the social media giant as a “bully”, that uses its platform to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate [UMG] into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans. [UMG] will never do that.”
Online Safety for TikTok Users
(Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg looks at X Corp’s CEO Linda Yaccarino and TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew as they raise their hands to be sworn in during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol in Washington, DC [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters])
This point of online safety wasn’t exactly elaborated on by UMG, just that one of their priorities is to “drive positive change” in “addressing online safety issues”, and are clearly proud of their status as an “industry leader in focusing on music’s broader impact on health and wellness”. If I had to read between the cryptic lines here, I’d wager a guess that this is a jab at TikTok’s lacklustre approach to children’s privacy and safety on their platform. Just this Wednesday, executives testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee amidst a wave of outrage from parents and lawmakers that companies are not doing enough to create safe spaced for children online — such as blocking sexual predators and preventing teen suicide. Alongside TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, other CEOs of social media giants also testified, including Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Jason Citron (Discord), Linda Yaccarino (X), and Evan Spiegel (Snapchat).
TikTok CEO, Chew, said at the Senate hearing, “We make careful product design choices to help make our app inhospitable to those seeking to harm teens,” Chew said, adding that TikTok’s community guidelines strictly prohibit anything that puts “teenagers at risk of exploitation or other harm – and we vigorously enforce them”.
It is clear, however, from growing societal and legal concerns that TikTok, amongst its fellow social media giants, is still rife with functions that promote the endangerment of children online. And THAT is an article for another day…
To keep it short, there is no shortage of children that have fallen prey to eating disorders from waif thin influencers that tout ways to get their “beach body summer ready”. There are children who’s privacy rights have been obliterated by their own parents who film them for TikTok content every day multiple times a day without their consent — the likes of which are being farmed and plastered over the ‘dark web’ for pedophiles to consume.
There are children that are being harassed, groomed, and violated on TikTok. There are children being exploited and lured into overconsumption by influencers who tout their new Stanley bottles, insist that they need a new mascara, flash a shiny new purse that they simply must go buy. It goes on and on and on….
Upon closer inspection, it seems that UMG is the more reasonable party here, despite TikTok’s claim that the music label is simply being “greedy” in seeking bigger compensation for the licensing of their artist’s music. “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.” Said TikTok in its response to UMG’s open letter. Perhaps TikTok should re-evaluate its privacy policy and impact on artists’ IP before making such statements.
The Fallout
TikTok is a little quieter nowadays. When I opened the app this morning, just a day after UMG pulled its catalog of music, I saw dozens of users saddened over the same unfortunate reality; the social media platform that hinged on creativity and music is now becoming music-less, and decidedly less creative. Influencers all seem hell bent on profiting off of their audience. Music labels are keen on leveraging the rights to their music for better compensation packages from TikTok. Gen Z’ers are already looking to the social media landscape for some sort of alternative, as if another social media platform is the answer to their problems (I can laugh at Gen Z because I am one, ok? Ok).
I’ll be the first to say that TikTok has opened up a whole WORLD of music for me. It’s where I first stumbled upon artists like Susannah Joffe, Ethel Cain, Dean Blunt, Girl In Red, Blondshell, Crystal Castles, Sarah Kinsley, Ezra Glatt, Hemlocke Springs, The Last Dinner Party, Cocteau Twins, Weyes Blood, Nick Drake, Maiah Manser, Tamino, TV Girl, Berlioz, PinkPantheress, etc. When Billie Eilish’s song ‘What Was I Made For’ went viral on TikTok for being featured on the Barbie soundtrack, it spurred a trend on the app for the creation of videos that spoke about how soul-wrenching it was to have watched a movie that honoured girlhood so well.
I was one of the people who participated in this trend, and posted a video to TikTok that featured a “poem for girls who cried during Barbie”. I titled it ‘For when you are tired of hating her’. My video garnered a surprising 740,000 views, 100,000 likes, and 13,000 saves. I’ll include the poem here for your reference;
“I hold her close to me,
because she is used to being kept at arm’s length.
I love her when she is tired,
and I worship her at full strength.
And I tell her she is loved as she is,
down to the last freckle and vein.
I let her feel it all —
Her wild laughter,
her crackling fury,
and her pervasive pain.
I teach her how to create her own sunlight,
And find poetry in the rain.
And I take her to wander
and daydream in forests
and smell the air by the sea.
I tell her that we are tied
like the stars to the midnight sky,
She lives inside me.”
The "What Was I Made For" Billie Eilish song had over 89,000 videos made using its sound in July of 2023. I cannot check how many it has now, because the song has been removed from TikTok, effectively muting tens of thousands of videos under it (including mine).
The songs that trend on TikTok often end up charting on the Billboard 100 or Spotify Viral 50. A whopping 67% of the app’s users are more likely to seek out songs on music-streaming services after hearing them on TikTok (according to a November 2021 study conducted for TikTok by MRC Data).
It’s hard to imagine TikTok continuing to flourish without maintaining its strong ties to the music industry.
Whatever magic existed on TikTok -- with its dances and song-related trends that got a collective generation through the pandemic -- seems to be fading. And maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.
It’s sort of like inspecting the root rot of a lovely flower. Maybe now, amidst the growing muted silence spreading across the app, we can take a moment to scrutinize what really remains of TikTok when the veil of catchy music has been lifted.
I'll leave you with this Spotify playlist, where I have put all of my most cherished songs that I have discovered through TikTok (RIP TikTok's UMG catalog, you were great).
About Shany Raitsin: Shany is the Founder and President of the Lincoln Alexander Property Law Society, and is a 3L at Lincoln Alexander School of Law. She is currently also a legal strategist at the DMZ. Shany is a proud member of the Jewish Law Students Society, and enjoys writing about Copyright Law, Trademark Law, Privacy law, Competition Law, and Social Media Law in her spare time.
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