A new global push would make AI companies pay for news - Poynter

"Lawsuits such as the one filed by The New York Times against OpenAI may take years to resolve. In the meantime, publishers like Axel Springer and News Corp are striking individual content-sharing deals with AI companies - arrangements that help some outlets but may do little for the broader news ecosystem."

"Many AI systems have been trained on news and other copyrighted material without compensation to publishers. So far, many AI firms have operated on the assumption that it is better to take content without asking now and deal with potential lawsuits later."

"Policymakers in Europe, Indonesia, Latin America and at the World Intellectual Property Organization are exploring versions of these laws, which would require AI companies to pay publishers for the content they use. These so-called statutory licensing regimes are worth a closer look."

AI companies have trained systems on vast amounts of journalism without compensating publishers, creating a fundamental question about future payment structures. Lawsuits like The New York Times versus OpenAI may take years to resolve, while some publishers negotiate individual deals with AI firms. Previous regulatory attempts, such as Australia's News Media Bargaining Code requiring Google and Meta to pay for news content, have been weakened or blocked globally. Statutory licensing represents an emerging alternative approach being explored by policymakers in Europe, Indonesia, Latin America, and international organizations. These regimes would automatically require AI companies to pay publishers for copyrighted content used in training, offering a middle ground between litigation and outright content-use bans.

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