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Countries including the UK and Australia are moving away from copyright exceptions for AI training, instead favouring licensing models that protect rightsholders while supporting innovation. At the same time, ongoing debates in the EU and pending legal decisions highlight unresolved questions around whether existing text and data mining rules can adequately address the realities of generative AI.

The New York Jets have become the first NFL team to adopt SmartFrame’s image-streaming technology, allowing them to retain full control over their official photography while unlocking new revenue through in-image advertising. The partnership reflects a growing trend among sports organisations to better manage, protect, and monetise their digital visual content.

The Mega Agency has launched a redesigned open-to-view website that allows users to browse its editorial photo archive without requiring a login, making image discovery faster and more accessible for media professionals. The platform also introduces StoryCreation™, a new AI-powered tool that helps editors automatically assemble curated photo stories in seconds.

Smart Code d.o.o. joins CEPIC as a new member, bringing over 20 years of experience in AI-driven media technology and digital asset management. Their work supports large-scale photo archives and editorial workflows across the industry.

At the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, Member States expressed near-unanimous support for developing an additional protocol to strengthen the Convention’s application in the field of artificial intelligence. The European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity welcomed this step, calling for ambitious regulation that protects intellectual property, cultural professions, and diversity within evolving international AI frameworks.

The Swiss Association of Picture Agencies and Photo Archives (SAB) has unanimously voted to dissolve, following decades of service to the industry. Rapid technological change in image communication has fundamentally altered the landscape for picture agencies, leading to a steady decline in membership that ultimately made the association no longer viable in the Swiss market.

In France, a bill establishing a rebuttable presumption of the use of creative content by AI providers is expected to be discussed in the French Senate in April 2026."The Axel Voss Report on AI and Copyright has chosen a similar approach. CEPIC supports this approach.

Italian Television Networks (RTI) and Medusa Film have filed a lawsuit with the Civil Court of Rome against Perplexity AI Inc., a US company operating in generative artificial intelligence.‍This is the first legal action in Italy to challenge copyright infringement related to the use of artificial intelligence.