This post by Michael Cader originally appeared in Publishers Lunch. Reprinted with permission.
Copyright Clearance Center has officially announced their first long-in-development licensing program for AI re-use rights. This first step lets participating publishers include these rights in CCC’s annual copyright licenses (ACL), their enterprise content licensing program that businesses subscribe to. The license allows for non-exclusive, annually renewable rights to use content within AI systems for internal use.
CCC President and CEO Tracey Armstrong says in the release, “It is possible to be pro-AI and pro-copyright, and to couple AI with respect for creators. Responsible AI starts with licensing, and in developing this license, CCC enables users to efficiently gain access to a consistent set of rights across many rightsholders and returns royalties to rightsholders as compensation for use of their works.”
Armstrong told PL that because of CCC’s long history with collective licensing solutions for copyrighted content — which included being “way ahead of the market with a text and data mining offer” — they were early in recognizing the potential for AI licensing and have been working on this and other solutions for well over a year.
“It’s one of the hardest things we’ve done here at CCC,” Armstrong said, as the organization worked through the requirements of content owners as well as licensees to understand the needs and uses. They also “have worked with third party experts from around the world that have been advising on this for well more than a year.”
In contrast to start-ups that are building potential solutions and trying to secure rights to bodies of long-form content, CCC’s ACL initiative is available in the marketplace now. VP and managing director Lauren Tulloch says they are “rolling it out as part of our clients’ annual renewals,” though they also have a way for “the clients who are particularly eager” to add this capability to their licenses outside of the annual renewal date. “This is a real thing; it’s happening right now.” Tulloch noted “an enormous amount” of their publisher clients are participating with “more every day” though they are not providing names or data around that participation.
As for the various options trying to come to market, Armstrong noted, “From an industry perspective, there’s a great need here for rightsholders who are looking for solutions. I think this a ‘let all flowers bloom’ type of environment” in which there will be “a lot of different options.” Including more potential programs on the way from CCC. Ultimately, “I don’t think it’s that vexing. You need content to power your activities. It can be licensed; it should be licensed.”
In the announcement, AAP President and CEO Maria Pallante endorses that proposition: “For AI to advance ethically and in a sustainable manner, it is essential to both protect authors and publishers from infringement and incentivize them to participate. Efficient, voluntary licensing solutions are a win-win for everybody in the value chain, including AI developers who want to do the right thing. I am grateful to organizations like CCC, as they are helping the next generation marketplace to evolve robustly and in forward-thinking fashion.”
CCC says they have been approached by “new users that don’t buy licenses today” looking for AI-licensable material as well as having “conversations with rightsholders that in some cases we’ve never worked with before” looking to reach this new market. Broadly, “We hear the cries of users who are looking for a harmonized, meaningful collection of rights that really help them get their jobs done.”
CCC “encourages rightsholders to reach out” regarding participation, via this page or at AI_License_Feedback@copyright.com. While their primary customer base for content is publishers, and the focus of the AI licensing now is on research, they are in conversations with an organization that represents authors as well. The company also has a useful resources page on AI, Copyright and Licensing.