> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # WTF now?! #55 – Thursday 1–Wednesday 7 October 2026 - URL: https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/wtf-now-55/ - Published: 2026-10-07T09:42:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-07T09:42:04.000Z - Description: Screenrights seeks a determination on statutory licence fees and Wikimedia says AI agents have been editing wiki projects and pushing up bandwidth costs. - Author: Elliott Bledsoe - Tags: WTF now?!, AI, AI agents, agentic AI, OpenAI, arts & culture, films, radio, TV, copyright, copyright licensing, statutory licences, Copyright Tribunal, media & entertainment, Paramount–Warner Bros acquisition proposal, Paramount, Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery, open movements, Wikimedia Foundation, tech & internet, domain names, Bluesky, ICANN [Screenrights is heading to the Copyright Tribunal](#screenrights-is-taking-schools-to-the-copyright-tribunal-over-educational-statutory-licence-fees) to set equitable remuneration rates for school usage of broadcast content under the educational statutory licence. Screenrights says it is because of a negotiation impasse. The Wikimedia Foundation has revealed that [agentic AI activity has been affecting the wiki platforms](#wikimedia-projects-have-been-impacted-by-unchecked-openai-agent-activity), including edits and excessive data demand that is putting its free knowledge projects at risk. They say it is not enough for OpenAI and other AI companies to just acknowledge that agents can be unpredictable. They need to take responsibility for agents running on their systems. Also this week the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger concludes with an official renaming back to an earlier name and Bluesky has applied for .bsky to become a top-level domain. Also this week the [Paramount–Warner Bros. merger concludes](#keeping-tabs) with an official renaming back to an earlier name and Bluesky has applied for [.bsky to become a top-level domain](#a-bit-on-the-side). You can get weekly [**WTF now?!*](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/wtf-now/) round-ups in your inbox. Sign up as a free member to get it by email. [Get WTF now?! by email ](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/signup/) --- ## WTF’s been going on? Here's WTF happened this week: ### Screenrights is taking schools to the Copyright Tribunal over educational statutory licence fees TL;DR Screenrights has applied to the Copyright Tribunal to determine equitable remuneration for schools use of broadcast content under the educational statutory licence after negotiations reached ‘an impasse’. The film, TV and broadcast content collecting society [Screenrights announced](https://www.screenrights.org/news/copyright-tribunal-application-filed-by-screenrights-seeking-fair-payment-for-educational-use-of-members-copyright-content-by-australian-schools?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) on Friday that it is asking the Copyright Tribunal of Australia to decide what is equitable remuneration for the use of its members' broadcast content by schools under the [educational statutory licence](https://help.copyright.com.au/hc/en-gb/articles/360000006316-What-is-the-Statutory-Education-Licence?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf). Put differently, Screenrights wants the Tribunal to decide if Australian schools are paying enough. Under the statutory licence teachers and students at schools operated by licensees can use any broadcast content for educational purposes. Screenrights argues that ‘Usage records demonstrate more and more television content is being accessed each year for educational purposes’ and that their attempts to ‘negotiate a fair fee with the schools’ representatives since mid-2025’ has failed to arrive at an agreed fee are ‘now at an impasse’. The stalemate has left them with ‘no choice but to ask the Copyright Tribunal to set the amount’. They go on to say that the move is ‘regrettable’ and that ‘Applying to the Copyright Tribunal is a step Screenrights takes only when all other options have been exhausted.’ With the passing of the [*Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Act 2017* (Cth)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00049?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) the former broadcast and text and artistic statutory licences were replaced with a educational statutory licence which introduced more flexibility to allow the collecting societies and educational institutions to negotiate terms. The Copyright Agency handles the licensing of works and Screenrights handles broadcast content. Where an agreement on the terms or equitable remuneration cannot be reached the matter can be referred to the Tribunal to make a determination. This isn’t the first time we have seen a collecting society that administers a statutory licence take a fee dispute to the Tribunal. Most recently the Copyright Agency initiated a [similar action](https://www.copyright.org.au/blog/CALvsUA?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) to determine equitable remuneration against Universities Australia, who represent a number of universities. The matter was [ultimately settled](https://www.copyright.com.au/2023/02/copyright-agency-and-university-sector-reach-agreement-on-copyright-licence-fees/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) in February 2023 which set out agreed statutory licence fees through 2026. [Copyright Tribunal: Application filed by Screenrights seeking fair payment for educational use of members’ copyright content by Australian schools - ScreenrightsScreenrights has applied to the Copyright Tribunal for a determination of the amount of equitable remuneration Australian schools should pay under the educational statutory licence.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/icon/9MY1PcjfCjMPc61KEu22RQDl0GM-6b62d1ff-41a7-4ce3-b739-eaecd100c738.png)Screenrights![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/thumbnail/4pBZEfbLfWBlhwyzYokdPQws-0bc241ab-02c6-4929-8f25-481e607ee77f.png)](https://www.screenrights.org/news/copyright-tribunal-application-filed-by-screenrights-seeking-fair-payment-for-educational-use-of-members-copyright-content-by-australian-schools?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) --- ### Wikimedia projects have been impacted by unchecked OpenAI agent activity TL;DR A Wikimedia Foundation investigation has revealed that OpenAI agents made edits to wiki projects and millions of automated requests to a public API, raising concerns about unchecked AI dragging on the knowledge commons. The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has revealed activity by OpenAI agents on its platforms. Off the back of the [AI agent Medicare breach](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/wtf-now-54/#openai-agent-medicare-breach-accelerates-australia%E2%80%99s-ai-safety-push) revealed last week, which included using German coding website DseWiki which was running wiki software, WMF [conducted its own investigation](https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/10/05/openai-rogue-agent-activities-found-on-wikimedia-projects/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) to determine if any of the websites it runs had been similarly affected by AI agents. While the investigation did not turn up evidence that Wikimedia systems were used for coordination among agents or that their systems or data had been compromised, it did identify what they believe are agentic edits to wiki content. Reportedly, the edits were mainly in sandbox areas and not published to public pages. WMF also states that agents believed to be operated by OpenAI ‘made millions of automated requests to our public APIs to access the knowledge on Wikimedia projects, crawled millions of pages (mainly from our projects Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons), and made hundreds of thousands of data queries to the Wikidata Query Service (WQDS)’. This excessive data drag may have contributed to a partial outage on WQDS in May. Even if it didn’t, the open internet is paying the price for unchecked agentic activity. WMF revealed that in 2025 its bandwidth usage increased by 50% because of a surge in bot activity and that 65% of the most resource-consuming traffic on its projects are bots. The impact of agentic AI is concerning. The scale of unmonitored agent activity and aggressive scraping of online content is more than a nuisance, it is an existential drain on and extraction of the commons to enrich a small number of commercial AI companies. This is compounded by the fact that investigating and attributing activities to AI agents can be difficult and involved. ‘The open web is a public good,’ WMF says, ‘We should not allow this behavior to become the “new normal” for the people or organizations that maintain it.’ They went on to say: > As a non-profit technology host of some of the largest and most widely used open knowledge platforms in the world, we are deeply concerned about the impact of “rogue” AI agents on platforms like ours, which are built by volunteers from around the world and rely on the promise of the open internet. Incidents like this one, and the many others that have been (and are still being) uncovered, illustrate how AI agents can drain resources and crash servers, as well as attempt to compromise trustworthy information. WMF calls out OpenAI who admit to agents behaving ‘unpredictably’ but have done little else to reign them in. The responsibility, human resources and cost of defence, bandwidth and clean up falls to the operators of affected systems. In WMF's case, it falls to volunteers and staff of the nonprofit. [OpenAI “rogue” agent activities found on Wikimedia projectsRecently, multiple organisations have disclosed how clusters of so-called “rogue” AI agents attempted to break into websites and online services, sometimes successfully. Agents from OpenAI’s enviro…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/icon/cropped-1024px-Wikimedia-logo.svg_-207138db-75ae-46ac-b1c8-f7a60fb8f750.png)DiffSelena Deckelmann![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/thumbnail/Robot-army-831d2cce-d6b0-423c-bbdc-124510de74ba.png)](https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/10/05/openai-rogue-agent-activities-found-on-wikimedia-projects/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) --- ## Keeping tabs Updates about WTF else has happened with things I have recently covered: ### Paramount–Warner Bros. proposed merger [Follow up](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/wtf-now-54/#paramount%E2%80%93warner-bros-proposed-merger): It looks like this listing might close out this Keeping tabs topic because the [Paramount merger with Warner Bros. is complete](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-07/paramount-takes-over-warner-bros-to-form-skydance/107236848?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf). The new parent company goes by the name Skydance, which is of course the same name as David Ellison’s production company before it merged with Paramount. The name change was [announced late last week](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/david-ellison-says-combined-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-will-be-named-2026-10-02/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) with the merged entity taking on the name as of yesterday, the same day it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the SKYD ticker symbol. [Paramount completes Warner Bros takeover to form media giant SkydanceThe combined company brings together Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures, the CBS News and CNN networks, and the HBO and CBS television brands under the control of David Ellison.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/icon/favicon-00bd12b0-5e99-4356-b17b-65dcfc2acd8d.png)ABC News![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/thumbnail/d64397d91e07229a0b8ba77c16168f14-5c7282cb-9963-4135-9b51-5297698ddb7c.jpg)](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-07/paramount-takes-over-warner-bros-to-form-skydance/107236848?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) --- ## A bit on the side WTF else happened this week: Bluesky wants .bsky to be a top-level domain. Fediverse microblogging platform Bluesky has applied to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to make [.bsky a top-level domain](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/06/bluesky-wants-to-give-you-your-own-domain-on-the-open-web/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) (well a generic top-level domain (gTLD)). If it is approved Bluesky handles could become elliottbledsoe.bsky rather than @elliottbledsoe.bsky.social. The move could be a simple as that, but, Sarah Parez [said on *Techcrunch*](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/06/bluesky-wants-to-give-you-your-own-domain-on-the-open-web/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf), it could see Bluesky profiles become more comprehensive personal home pages similar to what about.me has been doing for some time. Even if they do, Bluesky said it has no plans to sell or monetise the domains as doing so goes against its belief in an open web. They haven’t sorted out how .bsky domains would be requested, registered or distributed, but they have a bit of time since it will likely be 18 months to 2 years before the outcome of their application is known. [Bluesky wants to give you your own domain on the open web | TechCrunchBluesky says the process will still take 18-24 months, so don’t expect your new, shortened ‘bsky’ handle any time soon.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-favicon-gradient-8bbd524d-a2be-4003-862e-5ebd4c23c397.png)TechCrunchSarah Perez![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/69/85/69850acf-cfb0-462c-a6e8-fab23827fb03/content/images/thumbnail/bluesky-GettyImages-2185144073-2ca3b1d8-7829-4981-bda7-9c534710ca34.jpg)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/06/bluesky-wants-to-give-you-your-own-domain-on-the-open-web/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) If you are enjoying this [**WTF now?!*](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/wtf-now/) round-up, please consider [becoming a paid subscriber](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/subscribe/) or [making a small contribution](#/portal/support/) in support – it helps me keep creating free content like this. [Subscribe ](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/subscribe/) --- #### Colophon ##### **Reuse** You can reuse the written content on this page under the terms of a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence](https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/terms/#copyright-licence-reusing-elliottbledsoewtf-content) (CC BY 4.0) ##### **Conflict of interest** I am the President of [Wikimedia Australia](https://wikimedia.org.au/?ref=elliottbledsoe.wtf) (WMAU). The views expressed in this blog post are my own and do not express the views of WMAU or the Wikimedia Foundation. ##### **AI use** AI was used to generate a summary of listings and an introduction to this edition. Those summaries and that introduction were used to generate ideas. No AI-generated content was used verbatim. The banner graphic (i.e. the first image at the top of the blog post) was adapted from vector graphics generated in Adobe Illustrator using Firefly 4 with 'Subject' content type selected and the lowest level of detail set. *{ Text to Vector Graphic prompt: Seamless pattern, very large simple shapes, 80s retro style, fluid organic elements, morphing, overlapping, blurred gradients, visible layers. }* ##### **Provenance** This blog post was first published on Wednesday 7 October 2026\. It has not been updated. This is version 1.0.