Corporate License Holders in Germany Can Now Benefit from a New Offering Facilitating the Use of Content Within AI Systems for Internal Purposes
May 28, 2025 – Danvers, Massachusetts, USA and Munich, Germany – In collaboration with RightsDirect, a subsidiary of the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), VG WORT offers an extension to the existing VG WORT Digital Copyright License (DCL): The collective licensing solution now also includes rights to re-use content within artificial intelligence (AI) applications for internal purposes. The VG WORT DCL provides German companies and their worldwide affiliates with a consistent set of re-use rights for legally acquired materials from an extensive repertory.
The VG WORT DCL enables companies based in Germany to share and store content internally within their organizations. With the license extension, certain internal uses of AI have now been added. This provides a legally compliant solution for common types of use of copyright-protected content within companies. The license covers works published in German, English, and several other languages.
“Licensing provides contractual solutions for companies. We are delighted that the extended VG WORT DCL now also covers internal AI use within companies,” explains Dr. Robert Staats, managing member of the VG WORT executive board.
“Copyright laws differ widely across countries and re-use permission terms vary across rightsholders, making it challenging to use copyrighted content in AI technologies,” said Tracey Armstrong, President and CEO, CCC.
German companies that subscribe to the VG WORT DCL are mostly operating in industries including Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, Medical Devices and Diagnostics, Financial Services, Automotive, Engineering, Transportation, Telecommunications, and others.
VG WORT is the only collective management organization in Germany that administers rights to written works on behalf of authors and publishers in a fiduciary capacity. It is organized as a commercial association under German law.
RightsDirect provides advanced information and data integration solutions to organizations throughout Europe and Asia. Established in Amsterdam in 2010, the RightsDirect team, VG WORT’s agent in Germany, collaborates closely with reproduction rights organizations (RRO) to develop licensing and content solutions that facilitate global copyright management.