UK media bosses have formed a coalition on copyright using AI, writing an open letter calling on fellow global leaders to join them.
Outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie, Sky News chief executive David Rhodes, Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones, Guardian chief executive Anna Bateson and Financial Times chief executive John Slade published the letter on Thursday, calling on others to join SPUR – the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights Alliance.
“We are writing to you at a pivotal moment for our industry. AI is reshaping how we create, distribute, discover and monetize content,” the letter began. “We believe we need to work together to protect original journalism and secure the long-term sustainability of our industry.”
“AI creates opportunities for publishers and our audiences,” SPUR members said. “Our organizations are already at the forefront of using AI in responsible ways to benefit our audiences. But AI also raises pressing questions about fairness, consent, attribution, transparency and trust.”
Across the industry, “our reports, archives, and original content have become essential training materials for AI systems,” they say. “This material has been extracted, copied and reused without common standards to enable permission or payment, weakening the economic model that supports journalism.”
They add that the lack of transparency around how AI answers are generated “threatens to undermine public trust in both the news and the technologies used to access it.”
SPUR’s mission is to create common technical standards and licensing frameworks that ensure AI developers can access high-quality, trusted journalism “in legitimate, responsible, and convenient ways,” while ensuring publishers “retrain hands-on control over their content.” They pledged to “bridge the gap” between publishers and AI developers, and ensure that content can be accessed through accountable and rights-controlled channels.
The letter describes the issue as “a global challenge, and SPUR aspires to become a global alliance.”
