Generative AI has raised difficult questions about how copyright systems should respond when creative works are used for AI training. This article examines two recent developments in Northern Europe that bring compensation into that debate. In Norway, Kopinor and the National Library of Norway have developed a collective licensing arrangement for the use of newspaper content in AI training. In Denmark, the collective management organization Koda has turned to litigation against the AI music platform Suno, seeking transparency and remuneration for rights holders. Although the two cases rely on different legal mechanisms, they raise a common question about how the value generated through AI training should be shared. Comparing these developments with the U.S. experience, this article considers whether compensation may become a more important part of AI copyright governance.

AI-generated memetic warfare uses the appeal of memes and the distributive power of social media to reach and influence a wide audience, a tactic seen widely used in the first few months of the 2026 conflict among Iran and Israel and the United States. By analyzing a series of viral videos generated in the same style as the Lego Movie franchise in support of Iran, this paper explores the implications of this new technology on the way we wage war as well as on global economies, the environment, and societal health. I examine the distinctions among propaganda, “slopaganda,” and legitimate protest as well as the relationship between propaganda and social media platforms. I suggest how the humanities may serve not only to resist the unwanted effects of propaganda but also to engender the more desirable empathetic identification and understanding of legitimate protesters, no matter the media they use to draw attention to their cause.