Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Eriq Gardner illuminates the shadowy global patent war that will determine whether streaming platforms—Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, etcetera—will have to pay staggering new royalties for the technologies that power modern entertainment. The latest flashpoint arrived last month in a U.K. court, where Warner Bros. won an “anti-anti-suit injunction” against a patent holder. But the battle is far from over…

Plus, below the fold: Peter Hamby has exclusive post-shutdown polling data revealing which party won the messaging war. Ian Krietzberg profiles the A.I. startup tackling Hollywood’s deepfake problem. Marion Maneker recaps how Christie’s raked in $700 million during their first auction of New York’s fall sales season. Sarah Shapiro considers the ceiling for Jamie Haller’s self-funded namesake brand. And for Inner Circle members, Julia Alexander breaks down why Apple and MLS decided to cut their losses on their 10-year, multibillion-dollar partnership.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand reunites with Axios’s Sara Fischer on The Varsity to discuss the latest beats in the WBD sale saga and the implications for sports rights. And on The Powers That Be, Peter and Ian discuss Silicon Valley’s $100 million crusade against Democratic politicians looking to regulate artificial intelligence.

HOLLYWOOD

The streaming boom has been partly enabled by an underappreciated—and potentially incredibly valuable—suite of software, which suddenly has license holders and distributors racing to courthouses across the globe. The future of digital content delivery may hang in the balance. And Warner Bros. Discovery is on the front lines.

A MESSAGE FROM META

Meta is investing $600 billion in American infrastructure and jobs, creating opportunities in communities across the country.

Phil, a Lead Building Engineer in Los Lunas, New Mexico, has seen the impact that Meta’s investment can bring.

"Supporting my family used to mean leaving my hometown and missing out on special moments,” he says. “Now, it doesn't.”

Explore Phil’s story.

WASHINGTON

Exclusive new polling from Puck and Echelon Insights reveals that while Democrats decisively won the shutdown P.R. battle, voters have definitely soured on the party’s 74-year-old Senate leader.

A.I.

Among the infinite challenges introduced by the A.I. boom, deepfakes and digital impersonators are among the most pernicious. Loti, an A.I. startup catering to the entertainment industry, hopes to solve the problem at scale.

ART

With brisk bidding and an uplifting sense that people were buying art for art’s sake, Christie’s first auctions of New York’s fall season revealed a market returning to solid ground. With six well-known collections on offer, the single night yielded some $690 million in sales, even if the action in the eight-figure range was less heated.

FASHION

Jamie Haller is testing whether the self-funded, Brentwood-to-Bergdorf brand that she launched with shoes before expanding into women’s ready-to-wear can scale up without selling out or accidentally pricing itself into The Row territory.

A MESSAGE FROM META

Meta's AI infrastructure is bringing jobs to local communities.

For Phil—and many Los Lunas, New Mexico locals—supporting his family used to mean “leaving town, and missing moments I couldn’t get back." Not anymore.

Meta is investing $600 billion in American infrastructure and jobs, creating opportunities in communities nationwide.

Explore Phil’s story.

SPORTS

It’s obvious why Apple decided to pay a premium to walk away from its 10-year, multibillion-dollar MLS deal several years ahead of schedule. But with a different dance partner, the league could see its footprint expand significantly in the U.S.

SPORTS

Axios’s Sara Fischer rejoins the pod for a rundown of the sports world’s biggest shake-ups—from YouTube TV’s crafty deals with Fox and NBCUniversal to its stand-off with Disney, to the NWSL’s growing pains and the looming Warner Bros. Discovery fire sale. They also dig into the rise of independent creators and how Vox and Netflix are making plays amid the podcasting gold rush.

A.I.

Ian Krietzberg joins Peter to discuss the newest frontier in American campaign politics: the deep-pocketed, scorched-earth war against politicians who dare to regulate artificial intelligence. As Ian explains, Silicon Valley giants—from OpenAI to Andreessen Horowitz—are ponying up millions to kneecap Democrats pushing for oversight of these fast-growing, opaque, and increasingly powerful companies.

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