AI disputes are turning into deals
Lawyer by day, rapper by night, Nick Eziefula has seen both sides of the coin when it comes to AI and art. He tells us how AI disputes are turning into deals in today’s Notebook
AI disputes are turning into deals
Rapper or lawyer? As career choices go, the two seem like night and day.
I took that literally. By day, I advise clients on commercial issues and IP rights at Simkins LLP, a leading media and entertainment law firm. By night, I make soulful rap music under my stage name, Essa.
This gives me the privilege of a nuanced perspective on the industries I work within. Regardless of your viewpoint, AI’s shadow looms large.
The nerdy lawyer in me watches with fascination as licensing deals are struck between entertainment companies and generative AI platforms. Getty Images recently reached agreement with OpenAI, after suing Stability AI for alleged copyright infringement. But this was no U-turn: Getty’s fight was against unlicensed scraping, not AI itself. The deal allows Getty to leverage its library with ChatGPT’s growing user base, creating new revenue and greater trust in the AI’s output.
The timing is telling. With A24 partnering with Google DeepMind, and major music companies striking deals with Udio and Suno, the tide appears to be shifting from courtroom confrontation to boardroom bargains. We lawyers love disputes, but we also adore a deal.
Yet, with my artist hat on, the brow beneath is furrowed, not so much in frustration as confusion. How will individual creatives know when their work has been used, and whether payment reflects fair value? Do deals between industry giants consolidate power in ways that undermine artists? Will deal-making accelerate pressure on legislators, or reduce it by making regulation seem unnecessary?
And are musicians, writers, photographers, and lawyers too, all out of a job? On the legal side, perhaps not yet, with complex commercial, legal and regulatory questions to resolve and nuanced deals to strike. As for the musicians, why don’t you be the judge? My new single is called Unshakeable. My faith in human creativity remains exactly that.
A stern warning for ticketers
The CMA has turned off the tap on ticket ‘drip-pricing’. The UK competition regulator recently fined reseller StubHub £900,000 and required refunds for 50,000 customers. Lower headline prices were displayed up-front, but additional service and delivery fees only appeared later in the purchase journey. This ‘drip-pricing’ approach was misleading and unlawful. For a secondary ticketing market long criticised for opaque pricing, the message is clear: prices must be accurate, complete and displayed upfront. A welcome decision for ticket buyers and a stern warning to ticketing platforms.
Black Music Means Business
Black music is the central force powering our country’s music industry, with UK Music’s landmark Black Music Means Business report finding that it has contributed 80 per cent (£24.5bn) of the UK’s £30bn recorded music market across 30 years.
Yet only 22 per cent of senior industry roles are held by Black, Asian or minority ethnic professionals and a 20 per cent pay gap persists for Black artists and executives.
The report emphasises that tackling this disparity is not only a diversity imperative, but also an opportunity for businesses.
Gorillaz at Spurs
Despite being a Gooner by birth, I kept my allegiances quiet when visiting Tottenham Hotspur’s grounds for Gorillaz’ extraordinary stadium show. Of the seemingly endless procession of top-tier guest appearances, my personal highlights included a dazzling display of lyricism from my all-time favourite rapper, Black Thought, and a customarily wild and sassy display from the inimitable Moonchild Sanelly. Damon Albarn’s closing words summed up the ethos: “It’s not a band based on profit; it’s a band based on socialism”.
Quote of the week:
“Music and art should not be easy. Once it becomes easy, it’s meaningless.”
Damon Albarn, the Gorillaz frontman speaking to The Needle Drop in March 2026 on AI’s threat to creative value.
My music of the moment
Some highlights from my summer playlist. No AI slop here – just home-cooked nourishment.
Nobody’s on a hotter streak than London rapper Jords. After dropping dancefloor destroyer So High with Melé and Wonky Logic, he’s teamed up with collaborator Marger for Ruby (MHMM). The phrase in parentheses is the exact sound you’ll make all day after hearing it.
Bassist Moyses Dos Santos explores his Brazilian roots on debut album Maria, featuring Arthur Verocai, Theo Croker and Lynda Dawn. Think Latin-tinged Ezra Collective – impossible to sit still to.
Scorcher’s ADMD is a masterclass in grime. The pounding beats and dextrous lyricism have powered my workouts of late, even if I took the acronym somewhat personally: “All Dorks Must Die”. Thankfully, grime never will.
Nick Eziefula is a partner at Simkins LLP