Gibson Custom has relaunched the 1957 L-5 CES, reviving the fully carved archtop guitar as part of its Historic Reissue range. The instrument, handcrafted in Nashville, is available worldwide through authorized Gibson dealers, Gibson Garage locations and Gibson.com in Vintage Sunburst and Antique Natural finishes.

According to the company, the model was recreated from 3D scans of late-1950s originals and marks the first time Gibson’s Custom Shop has used a dovetail neck joint for this instrument. The guitar features a carved AAA spruce top, bookmatched AAA curly maple back and sides, a three-piece curly maple neck with walnut center strip, and a pair of unpotted Custombucker pickups with Alnico 3 magnets. It ships with light-gauge flatwound strings and a Custom Shop hardshell case.

Mat Koehler, Gibson’s senior vice president of product, said the reissue reflects the L-5 CES’s influence across jazz, country, blues and rockabilly, calling it one of the finest instruments the company has produced. The original L-5 line dates to the early 1920s, with the electric L-5 CES version introduced in 1951 and the addition of Gibson’s Patent Applied For humbuckers in 1957 widely regarded by collectors as the model’s definitive era.

Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Libby Coffey, primeprgroup.com.

Michael Smith has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for orchestrating a scheme that used AI-generated songs and bot accounts to fraudulently generate streaming royalties. US District Judge John G. Koeltl handed down the sentence and ordered Smith to forfeit $8,091,843.64, the loss amount both prosecutors and the defense agreed upon.

The case centered on Smith’s use of artificial intelligence to mass-produce tracks, which were then streamed by automated bots to siphon royalty payments from streaming platforms. The sentencing marks one of the first major criminal cases targeting AI-enabled streaming fraud, a growing concern for labels, distributors and platforms as generative music tools become more accessible.

Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.

AEG has renewed its naming rights agreement with telecoms brand O2 for its London venue, keeping the arena branded as The O2 until 2038. The companies describe the extension as the largest naming rights renewal in UK history, though financial terms were not disclosed.

As part of the deal, O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers will receive expanded early access to tickets, with a 50% increase in allocations available through the Priority Tickets scheme. The renewal underscores the long-term commercial value AEG and O2 place on the venue, which has operated under the O2 name since 2007 and remains one of the world’s busiest arenas.

Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.

Annabelle Herd, head of the Australian Recording Industry Association, told lawmakers that OpenAI and Anthropic are lobbying the government to weaken copyright protections in their favor. She argued the AI companies want exemptions that would let them use copyrighted music and other content without proper licensing or payment.

Herd warned that if Australia changes its copyright law to accommodate the two firms, it risks becoming what she called “the Trojan horse for Big AI,” potentially setting a precedent that undermines creator rights more broadly. Her comments come amid ongoing global debate over how AI companies should compensate rights holders for training data drawn from copyrighted works.

Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.

The major labels and BMG have asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a Fifth Circuit decision they say threatens to upend copyright law internationally. The appeals court ruled in January that when a songwriter exercises termination rights under US copyright law, it reclaims their rights worldwide, not just domestically.

That ruling came in a case brought by songwriter Cyril Vetter. In their filing, the majors and BMG argue the decision conflicts with established international copyright principles, under which each country’s rights are governed by its own laws, and warn that letting it stand could create significant uncertainty across the global music publishing business.

Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.