Industry & Advocacy News
November 6, 2025
On October 27, 2025, the Authors Guild submitted written comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in response to a request for public input on AI policy. As part of the administration’s overall effort to position the United States as a global leader in AI technology, OSTP requested information from the public on federal laws, regulations, and processes that may unnecessarily hinder the development and deployment of AI technologies in the United States.
Our comments were largely aimed at refuting anticipated comments from tech companies and anti-copyright interest groups arguing that applying copyright law to AI training is a hindrance to AI development. As we explain, that assertion is simply wrong: Copyright is not a barrier any more than the need to pay for other essential supplies such as data farms and energy.
Copyright enforcement is, however, essential to the very existence of the creative ecosystems that the AI companies rely on to build their AI: their language models could not exist without professionally written works. Authors put their lives into their work; they usually educate themselves and write for years before being published, and a single book may represent years of work. It is grossly unfair and unreasonable to allow AI companies—which are extraordinarily rich compared to anything in the writing and publishing world, to build their AI on the backs of authors.
Asking AI companies to pay for those works—which they have used to generate untold billions of dollars—is no more a “hindrance” than expecting them to pay for the electricity and programmers needed to run their data centers.
Our comments emphasized three overarching points: 1) Licensing is not only feasible but already available; 2) the writing and other creative professions will not survive without licensing (as opposed to a fair use free for all model); and 3) allowing training of professionally created commercial content will undermine the Constitutional purposes of the copyright system and turn it on its head.
Contrary to AI companies’ claims, it is eminently feasible and cost-effective for these companies to license books to train their language models. Importantly, we do not believe that AI companies need to license every piece of content on the open internet; we are concerned primarily with professionally created content that relies on the copyright system and free market to be produced and disseminated to the public.
For those types of works, licenses for training are readily available. Dozens of AI licensing deals have already been reached and new licensing platforms are constantly emerging. These free-market approaches offer a win-win, allowing AI companies to efficiently obtain the works they need while ensuring fair compensation for creators.
Licensing is crucial to the viability of the creative professions. Authors create enormous value for AI companies and deserve a share. A single book typically takes many years to research, write, and edit, and the authors, publishers, and others in the value chain need to be paid to make that investment worthwhile.
Without licensing, authors have no control over how AI companies use their works or how those works appear in AI outputs, and without restrictions, most authors will likely be put out of business before long. AI-generated books are already flooding platforms like Amazon, with knockoffs and summaries diluting markets and diverting sales from human authors.
The median writing-related income for full-time authors has dropped to just over $20,000. Allowing AI companies to take works for free will drive those incomes even lower, making it impossible for many talented writers to continue their craft and ultimately impoverishing the literary profession.
Allowing AI companies to take works for free undermines the overall copyright system upon which the public relies. The framers of the Constitution understood that strong copyright protection is essential to promoting creativity and the advancement of knowledge for the benefit of the entire nation. Copyright exists not just to reward creators, but to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good. Sweeping aside these protections will upend this foundational structure, with ripple effects throughout our culture.
Ironically, the impoverishment of the literary profession will ultimately diminish the quality of the very AI outputs that are displacing human authors—because quality AI depends directly on quality training materials. The development of a robust, world-leading AI sector in the U.S. depends directly on the health of the creative industries. In a very real sense, our fortunes are tied together.
Copyright is not an obstacle to AI development—it is the foundation upon which sustainable AI advancement must be built. In our comments, we urge the administration to reject calls to weaken copyright protections and instead support market-based licensing approaches that respect the rights of creators while fostering innovation. The future of American creativity, culture, and even AI itself depends on getting this right.
Read our full comments here (PDF).
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