So far, most of the headlines—on both sides of Gen AI licensing in media—have come from major players.
By: Ronn Levine
On April 24, Ziff Davis, one of the U.S.’s biggest publishers with more than 45 sites globally, sued Open AI, claiming that the tech company has “intentionally and relentlessly reproduced exact copies and created derivatives of Ziff Davis works.” That came more than a year after The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems.
On the other side, UK’s Press Gazette keeps tabs on the publishers that have signed licensing agreements with an AI company—mostly Open AI—and it grows more sizable by the week. The latest is The Washington Post, joining giants like Future, Axios, Hearst, Conde Nast, Financial Times and Dotdash Meredith. In addition, Microsoft signed licensing agreements with two huge publishers, Axel Springer (Politico) and Informa.
Notice a trend here? “Biggest. “Sizable.” “Giants.” “Huge.”
Michael Simon, the former long-time owner of Publishers Printing Company, noticed this. In response, he has launched The Magazine Coalition, with the intent to become a centralized solution for content licensing with generative AI publishers—and help publishers of all sizes recover any copyright infringement damage.
To this end, he has secured initial funding of $10 million for three years for the legal process, which will be led by Goodwin Procter, an international law firm known for its expertise in intellectual property law—particularly in copyright litigation and technology licensing. Complementing that agreement for Simon is a partnership with SIM IP, a firm specializing in intellectual property investment and litigation finance.
“It would be very difficult for small publishers to take on this task,” Simon told me on a call a couple weeks ago. “And they probably don’t have it in their budget for the attorney fees. I don’t know if they have it on the staffing side [either]. We’ve developed our team very solidly with the experts that we’re bringing to the table.
“We feel like we’re in a good position due to the relationships that we had for decades with hundreds and hundreds of publishing companies” with his printing company, Simon added. “Now we’re just adjusting their content, or more basically brokering that data to these AI companies but doing so in a very formidable fashion.”
Years ago, Simon created a similar entity, though for print, called The Magazine Channel, consisting of 1,000-plus magazines. His son came to him last year to ask if that type of entity could work in the AI realm. “One thread is not very strong, but if you put a thousand threads together you come up with a pretty strong piece of fabric,” Simon said.
It makes sense—a group for the little guys. But the landscape remains muddled. Others have tried on a smaller scale to put a group together, with outcomes pending. Suits have been filed against Open AI by a group of Indian news publishers, a coalition of Canadian news outlets, and The Center for Investigative Reporting, but none with the breadth of content and financial support that The Magazine Coalition hopes to build.
Adding to the mix are industry organizations like the Alliance for Audited Media, A Copyright Clearance Center, and SIIA, which have all brought ethics and responsible use of AI into the discussion.
The AAM is launching a certification program to help media organizations “implement responsible, transparent AI practices that build trust with readers and advertisers.” And in a recent post, CCC President Tracey Armstrong wrote: “Licensing solutions are a key part of the path forward, as are business practices that provide pragmatic approaches to achieving responsible AI use.”
That’s a lot for large publishers to take in—let alone smaller ones—especially in this challenging time of finding successful revenue paths. Some like Endeavor Business Media remain on the sidelines, focused, in the words of CMO Amanda Landsaw, on task forces, guides and acceptable-use policies. “We’re just trying to leverage [AI] in the best way that’s responsible for Endeavor,” she said.
Before stepping down recently, Jim Mullen, chief executive of Reach—home to 120 brands including Mirror and Express and, also on the sidelines so far—said: “We produce content, which is really valuable, and we would like to license or agree how they use our base intelligence to actually inform the AI and the open markets. The challenge we have as an industry is that we need to be unified.”
Simon would agree. He said that there’s still research to be done on the level of infringement that has occurred but emphasized that joining his group presents “little to no risk at all” for publishers. “We take on all the responsibility moving forward dealing with the AI companies, and a majority of the net proceeds will go back to the publishing community. And I think we can do this in a very congenial manner.”
Assisting Simon is industry veteran Darryl Wiggins as head of strategic business development. “Our efforts have been focused on awareness and onboarding of publishers,” he updated me last week. “Got to get them to understand that the power is in being part of the coalition. Secondly, the time is now; [we] must be urgent in our activities.”
What’s next? Simon needs smaller publishers to sign on to provide the content heft to successfully litigate more agreements. No cash investment needed, he emphasized.
“If there’s one phrase that needs to get repeated, it’s, ‘The time is now,’” he said. “We feel very confident that AI companies will be receptive to our offerings to them on both the settlement and licensing agreements, now more so than ever. They’ve got the resources and the need, and we can accumulate a substantial number of publications moving forward that will give us the breadth required to sit down and talk with in a constructive manner.”
Whether this gentle talk continues remains to be seen—and heard, perhaps in court. Stay tuned.
About the Author
Ronn Levine is an award-winning writer/editor, now covering architecture and consumer and B2B media for various organizations. He previously wrote about the arts for The Washington Post and currently runs The ArtHouse, a Washington, DC group with 13,000 members, weekly events, and a monthly newsletter.
