This newsletter is written & curated by Stop Content Theft.

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TL;DR

• YouTuber “Syndicate” receives copyright claims for 3000 of his videos

• Jake Paul’s venture capital fund closes at $180 million

• Substack is becoming a one-stop shop for creators

• Pinterest introduces AI to its Ads Manager and release new chatbot app

• Anthropic wants your passport for Claude subscriptions

• Deezer expands their free AI-music detector across the biggest streaming platforms

• Lowe’s expands their Creator Network

• Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Academy returns for four weeks

• YouTube tests ‘Top Fans’ tool for 1% of viewers

• Google allows influencers to create their own search result profile

• LinkedIn launches Creator Marketplace

• UK to ban under-16s from social media apps

• Facebook revives its Creator Studio as an AI app

Industry

Syndicate says 3,000 YouTube videos hit by copyright claims after outro song rights sold

YouTuber Tom “Syndicate” Cassell – known for the ‘Life of Tom’ channel - has revealed that almost 3000 of his videos have received copyright claims as a new rights holder has acquired the music he has used in his outro for the past 8 years.

It’s a useful reminder that a license or ownership stake in a track can be sold at any time and the new owner has every right to claim all of the videos that use that music.

Anti Fund closes oversubscribed $100 Million growth fund

Anti Fund, a venture capital fund run by Jake Paul, Logan Paul, and Geoffrey Woo, have closed their $100 million growth-stage investment fund which was oversubscribed, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to approximately $180 million. Using a “barbell strategy”, the fund has two arms: a venture fund - writing small checks to unproven founders - and a growth fund - writing larger checks to established companies (e.g. Space X, OpenAI, etc.)

It’s currently a relatively small fund but the Pauls’ star power shows how creators and influencers can leverage their content creation machines into ownership.

Platform Change

Substack becomes one-stop shop

Substack is quickly evolving from a newsletter service into a one-stop shop for creators “who want email, paid subscriptions, community, audio, video, and live formats in one place”. This article explores the various ways in which Substack is adapting to an increasingly competitive marketplace as they compete with the likes of Patreon and YouTube for creators who want to build an entire business on one platform.

Pinterest launches AI-powered ad and shopping tools

Pinterest have announced a range of AI-powered updates, the main feature being the platform’s new Business Assistant, an AI tool built into its Ads Manager. The assistant will analyse the data from your ad campaigns and create graphs and charts to display your KPIs and suggest improvements or new content.

They also announced Ask Pinterest, a separate app with a chatbot-like interface where users can ask multi-step queries that don’t suit a single search query, with the context being retained across sessions and the AI draws on the user’s saved Pins and Boards to tailor its suggestions. The app is currently experimental and part of an information-gathering exercise on behavioural data for the platform.

Artificial Intelligence

Anthropic's new privacy policy adds biometric checks to Claude accounts

In their recent privacy policy update, Anthropic announced a number of changes active from July 8th, but the headline change is that they “may ask” users to verify their age or identity in certain circumstances using a government-issued identity document. A third-party vendor, Persona (backed by Peter Thiel’s investment firm, Founders Fund), will be handling the ID-checking but it is as yet unclear how long they will retain the identity documents.

Deezer's free AI music detector now works across 20 streaming platforms

Deezer have launched a free online AI music detector which allows listeners to scan their playlists for AI-generated content across 20 of the most popular streaming platforms. It supports 27 languages and requires no Deezer account to use. The tool is clearly needed as Deezer recently revealed that they have been receiving nearly 75,000 AI-generated tracks every single day, accounting for “more than 44% of the platform’s total daily delivery”.

Opportunities

Lowe’s wants creators to put their next products on its shelves

Lowe’s, the American home improvement chain, is expanding its Creator Network by allowing its members to develop their own Lowe’s products through a new program called ‘Lowe’s Creator: Into the Blue’. The program will connect creators with Lowe’s product design and development teams and allow creators to pitch product ideas. Application details can be found here.

Amelia Dimoldenberg expands her Dimz Inc. Academy for Young Creatives in its second year

Amelia Dimoldenberg, host of ‘Chicken Shop Date’, is expanding her Dimz Inc. Academy to a four-week free program, offering paid work placements and industry mentoring to young creatives in digital media. It is open to London-based young adults between 18 and 24 years old. After the program ends in August, each participant will receive a work placement and a £300 bursary, among other benefits. Applications are open now and details can be found here.

ICYMI (Highlights from this month’s Briefings)

YouTube testing ‘Top Fans’ tool for 1% of viewers

YouTube is testing a new ‘Top Fans’ tool where creators can make some of their content only available to their top 1% of fans. The remaining 99% of fans won’t be able to view the content, even via a direct link.

While this feature is intended as a reward for the most loyal of fans, it can also be used as a way to experiment with different formats or leverage the direct audience access in brand deals. The better the offering, the more incentivised your audience will be to watch more of your content to gain exclusive access.

Google is letting social media stars customise their search result page

Google has announced the US launch of ‘Search Profiles’, a way for brands and creators to customise their profile on Search – essentially, a social media profile on Google. The profile can be accessed through the creator or publisher’s knowledge panel and they can add an avatar, bio, website, social media platforms, and any other relevant information.

To qualify, users must be at least 18 years old and have a minimum of 100,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram, or X, or 300,000 on TikTok.

LinkedIn launches Creator Marketplace to connect brands with creators

LinkedIn has launched Creator Marketplace, a way for brands to connect with relevant creators by easily filtering by topic and content expertise before assessing the creator’s audience and performance. This enables creators to be discovered by large brands and to develop partnership opportunities. The tool is now available within Campaign Manager.

UK bans under-16s from using social media apps including TikTok and YouTube

The British government are the latest to announce that they will ban children aged under 16 years old from using social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. The ban is expected to come into effect from early next year and is intended to protect children.

The policy immediately received pushback from platforms including Meta who claim that the bans are easy for teens to bypass and will push users into unregulated areas of the internet.

Facebook has a new Creator Studio

Facebook has revived its Creator Studio as a stand-alone AI app after it was previously closed down in 2023. The app is currently being tested by selected creators but it is intended to assist creators with suggesting and drafting posts and replies to comments the AI deems the most important and relevant.

Featured Article

How the creator economy actually works in 2026

Net Influencer have released a detailed and informative report on the current state of the creator economy and how it functions, from the content format platforms prefer to the acquisitions they are making. Interesting read for your morning commute.

47% of creators have had their content stolen.

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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Written and produced by a human. All opinions are my own.