The Authors Guild, the largest professional organization for writers in the United States, has announced a partnership with a new start-up called Created by Humans. The goal is to help writers license the rights to their books to artificial intelligence companies. This move comes as the Authors Guild is involved in a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that using books to train ChatGPT without licensing the rights is copyright infringement.
By endorsing Created by Humans’ platform, the Authors Guild acknowledges the disruption AI has brought to the book industry. Mary Rasenberger, the chief executive of the Authors Guild, said, “What’s good about licensing is it gives the author and the publisher control, as well as compensation, and it gives you the ability to say no.”
Several AI companies have already expressed interest in licensing book content through the platform, according to Trip Adler, the co-founder and chief executive of Created by Humans. In addition to the licensing initiative, the Authors Guild is set to offer its 15,000 members a new “Human Authored” certificate.
This logo can be placed directly on book covers to indicate that the work was written by a human and not artificial intelligence.
authors Guild’s licensing initiative
Douglas Preston, a bestselling novelist and member of the Authors Guild Council, said, “It isn’t just to prevent fraud and deception.
It’s also a declaration of how important storytelling is to who we are as a species.”
The Authors Guild hopes the “Human Authored” badge will help sway readers to buy the works of human writers, especially in e-bookstores inundated with AI-generated content. However, the organization acknowledges the challenge of verifying whether a work is truly human-authored, as current AI detection technology is not yet reliable enough. Rasenberger stated that the Authors Guild is lobbying for federal or state laws mandating clear labeling of any text generated by artificial intelligence.
The organization is also finalizing language on allowable “de minimus” use of AI, such as spelling and grammar check services. The Authors Guild’s efforts to pursue licensing agreements and introduce the “Human Authored” label highlight the growing tensions between tech innovation and traditional copyright protections. As AI continues to evolve, the need for legal adaptations and frameworks that address these complexities becomes increasingly apparent.
