The UK government has begun a consultation period for a proposal that would make exceptions to copyright law, allowing tech companies to use copyrighted material to train AI unless rights holders specifically opt out. In a statement, the government said, “At present, the application of UK copyright law to the training of AI models is disputed. Rights holders are finding it difficult to control the use of their works in training AI models and seek to be remunerated for its use. AI developers are similarly finding it difficult to navigate copyright law in the UK, and this legal uncertainty is […]
AI
Amazon Aspires (and Hires) to “Enhanc[e] the Book Publishing and Reading Experience Using Cutting-Edge AI Technology”
Amazon has a job listing for a position in India for a senior applied scientist, book content experience, as part of a “Publishing & Reading Science team,” looking for people “who are passionate about Reading and are willing to take Reading to the next level.” The goal is “leveraging advances in AI to improve the Reading experience for Kindle customers, and the Publishing experience for book content creators and distributors” by “making publishers lives easier through AI.” The corpus appears to be book content that was provided for a far different purpose (and might be restricted, depending upon your agreements): […]
Bertelsmann Expands Work with AI Voice Company ElevenLabs
AI voice and text-to-speech provider ElevenLabs issued a press release celebrating their expanding relationship with Bertelsmann and its subsidiaries. “So far, 36 Bertelsmann companies are using our technology to improve production and try new approaches. AI dubbing and multi-language audio are just the start. Together, we’re finding ways to share stories across languages and formats, reaching more people in more places.” Storytel invested in ElevenLabs and has been working with them to produce AI-narrated audiobooks since mid-2023. And Harper Collins started working with ElevenLabs earlier this year to create AI audiobooks of select foreign language backlist titles. In June, ElevenLabs […]
Microsoft Is HarperCollins’ AI Licensee
Bloomberg’s Hannah Miller and Dina Bass reported that Microsoft is the large tech company that has a licensing deal with HarperCollins for nonfiction books to train AI models, “according to a person familiar with the matter.” That person indicates, “Microsoft wants the HarperCollins books for a model that it hasn’t yet announced…. The company isn’t planning to use the content to generate new books without human authors, the person said.” Harper Collins had said previously in a statement that their licensing deal authorized “limited use of select nonfiction backlist titles for training AI models to improve model quality and performance.”
Authors Guild CEO Says Harper “Struck A Good Deal” for AI Licensing
Authors Guild ceo Mary Rasenberger and her staff have been actively engaged in representing authors’ interests in the battle to take back control of copyrighted work in an AI world, and monetize those rights if they choose. Speaking to PL about Harper’s new deal to license a body of backlist nonfiction works to a large AI company for authors who elect to consent, and with certain contractual guardrails in place, Rasenberger told us: “We really appreciate that Harper has taken the initiative and thought through how to protect works and keep AI from taking away from any existing value of […]
Harper Strikes Deal to License Nonfiction Books for AI; Makes Offer to Authors
Harper Collins has negotiated a licensing agreement with the one of the major AI companies “to allow limited use of select nonfiction backlist titles for training AI models to improve model quality and performance.” The company has briefed some agents on the deal and started by making offers to a modest set of authors to sign a contract amendment agreeing to participate in the deal. They say in a statement to PL, “While we believe this deal is attractive, we respect the various views of our authors, and they have the choice to opt in to the agreement or to […]