40 major media groups join AI copyright coalition
PARIS: Forty major media groups including The New York Times, The Economist and Agence France-Presse (AFP) have joined a global coalition of publishers that is seeking to prevent AI companies from using their journalism without permission, the group announced on Tuesday. The coalition, known as SPUR (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights), was launched in February and already included media groups…
In a move to protect their intellectual property, 40 major media organizations have united to form the SPUR coalition, which aims to prevent AI companies from utilizing their journalism without permission, according to a statement released on Tuesday. SPUR, or Standards for Publisher Usage Rights, was established in February and has now expanded to include prominent publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Agence France-Presse (AFP), The BBC, The Financial Times, and the Associated Press.
The coalition's primary objective is to aid media companies in monitoring their content, identifying instances of copyright infringement, and negotiating commercial agreements with AI firms responsible for services like ChatGPT or Claude. According to co-founder and spokesperson David Buttle, "There is rapidly growing momentum behind our effort to build a fairer, more sustainable information economy."
He emphasized that high-quality journalism is the foundation of AI models, yet publishers currently lack the mechanisms to ensure fair compensation for their work.
AFP CEO Fabrice Fries highlighted that "each day, millions of people rely on AI assistants for information gathered and verified by news agency journalists." He stressed the importance of recognizing, crediting, and fairly compensating original journalistic value. "Content traceability is not only a matter of intellectual property; it is also essential to maintaining public trust," he added.
Other media organizations that joined SPUR on Tuesday include The Atlantic, The Observer newspaper, Radio France, as well as publishers' associations from Brazil, Japan, Argentina, and Colombia. As publishers grapple with the disruption of their traditional advertising-based business model by social networks, securing remuneration for their content is a critical concern.
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