Good morning. You may have sensed a shift in the Publishverse, and your instincts were correct.
We have a big announcement coming on Monday, and you’re not going to want to miss it.
Can This Comedy Creator Put an End to Deepfakes?
Creators Zander Small (left) and Morgpie (right) launch Fanlock, a platform to combat deepfakes / Zander Small, Morgpie
Deepfakes (AI videos that mimic a creator’s likeness, usually without consent) have been a long-held issue for creators—and in the age of AI it’s not slowing down.
Comedy creator Zander Small is on a mission to stop it with Fanlock—a platform that detects deepfakes, leaks, and AI-generated content using creators’ likenesses.
“The tools available were just not cutting it, so I built something better,” Small told us.
Go deep: Small co-founded Fanlock with adult content creator Morgpie, who was spending thousands per month on leak removal with little success.
Fanlock implements a four-step system including automated Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requests and manual removals—targeting encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram.
The platform currently offers three tiers ranging from $49–$199 per month.
The audience: “From what we’re seeing on our end, it’s primarily female creators and cosplayers who are being hit the hardest by deepfakes,” Small said. “They tend to have highly-engaged audiences, which makes them bigger targets, and unfortunately the least institutional support when violations happen.”
So far, FanLock has removed over 500K leaks for its 200 users.
Zoom out: AI fraud losses are expected to hit $40 billion by next year, according to Deloitte. Other companies like CAA and YouTube also have reactive systems in place for takedown requests.
These Creators Are Giving Their Journalists Equity
(Left to right) Co-founder Max Tcheyan, Editor in Chief Dana Brown, and Co-founder Daniel Tsinis lead food media company Caper / Photography by Poupay
Former Puck team members Max Tcheyan and Daniel Tsinis just launched Caper—a media company for food industry professionals where its writers get equity in the business.
“We want to speak to the industry class, help them tell their stories, and give them space to do it in some new ways,” Tcheyan told us. “If you're entering into [the food] space, this should help you navigate a career as well.”
How it works: All of Caper’s content will be accessible through a paid subscription. In addition to equity, writers will receive bonuses for top-performing posts.
Tcheyan and Tsinis received $2.5 million in funding to build out their platform and team of salaried journalists—starting with NY-based journalists Chris Crowley, Emma Orlow, and Annie Armstrong.
Big picture: Creator “co-ops” (like Johnny Harris’ Newpress) are growing in popularity among journalists, where they receive benefits beyond a salaried position. This is Tcheyan’s third media company using a subscription and equity-based business model, following news outlets Puck and The Athletic.
What Apple’s New Video Podcasts Mean for Creators
Apple rolls out more video podcast capabilities, with potentially higher costs for creators / Apple
Apple rolled out more video capabilities to its podcast app last month—but creators may be slower to adopt it than on Spotify or YouTube. The reason: it’s more expensive.
Apple’s new setup will charge podcast hosting platforms to place dynamic ads in a creator’s video. Previously with audio, there was no charge.
“Creators uploading video on Apple will benefit from [analytics and retention metrics], but economically this is dangerous for the podcast industry in some ways,” Rox Codes, co-founder of Steven Bartlett’s podcast management platform Flightcast, told us.
The change stems from Apple’s use of HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), which loads video in segments as a viewer watches instead of downloading the full file at once.
That has upsides—like more precise retention data. But it also means ads may not play if viewers drop off early, potentially lowering payouts.
It also raises hosting costs, as HLS downloads the video from the host (ex: Flightcast) instead of Apple serving the video directly (like on Spotify and YouTube).
“There’s a lot of crazy tech stuff that just rolls back up into ‘it’s really expensive for hosting platforms, and less ads might get played’—and is that all worth it to put a video on Apple Podcasts?” Codes said.
🔥 Press Worthy
Comedy creators Brooke Averick and Connor Wood are going on a California podcast tour.
Dude Perfect hires its first chief content officer.
Quen Blackwell, Brittany Broski, and Jake Shane are hosting the red carpet at Vanity Fair’s Oscars after party.
Haley Pham shares a documentary about the four-year process of writing her book.
Sports creator Justin Leusner is visiting 30 NBA arenas in 30 days as part of a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish.
Mark Rober is casting for his forthcoming Netflix student competition show, Schooled!
📚 Thank You for Pressing Publish
The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: For Harpers Magazine, journalist Sam Kriss examines the shifting tech culture in San Francisco, and the traits entrepreneurs look for when hiring in the age of AI.
Watch: Video journalist Macy Gilliam explores why Google invests so much in Google Maps, and takes Maps images of Bosnia via Google’s Street View car.
Listen: Ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night, Katey Rich and Christopher Rosen break down their Oscar predictions for The Ankler’s Prestige Junkie podcast.
