Press

AI-curious studios are walking into a wild, uncharted legal landscape because of the amount of copyrighted material being mined to teach the models, said Dan Neely, co-founder of startup Vermillio, which helps companies and individuals protect their intellectual property.

Music companies have not struck any such sweeping [licensing] deals, and instead have preferred more limited partnerships with tech companies

The licensing sector is already proving it can be done, built as it is on AI firms disclosing what data they use, and creators are properly rewarded. Platforms like Narrativ and Created by Humans, and partnerships like Sony Music and Vermillio, show that responsible AI isn’t just ethical – it’s investable.

“The licensing of content that doesn’t exist on the open internet is going to be a big business,” said Dan Neely, chief executive and co-founder of Vermillio, which works with major studios and music labels such as Sony Pictures and Sony Music.

Content licensing and data marketplace start-ups have raised $215m in funding since 2022, the Financial Times reported. Firms such as …Vermillio… help creative industries sell their content to artificial intelligence (AI) firms such as OpenAI and Perplexity.

Last month, Sony Music led AI licensing startup Vermillio’s $16 million Series A, while Vobile 10 days ago kicked off an audio buildout by acquiring Pex. And in a relatively early AI partnership, Universal Music inked a deal with content-attribution platform ProRata.ai in August 2024.