Tech companies using content without consent: International Publishers' Association president on AI-generated material

New Delhi: The International Publishers' Association (IPA) president Karine Pansa accused big technology companies of using copyrighted content "without permission" for AI-generated materials and urged publishers to raise their concerns.

Pansa, who recently visited India for the ongoing New Delhi World Book Fair, said the IPA is holding discussions with its member countries, including India, on how to deal with the big tech companies for infringing publishers' copyrights by "reproducing their materials without permission" for AI training.

"The big tech companies are using the content available on the internet to regenerate the new content without consent, and part of this content is books, the content of which belongs to the publishers. It is being used without their permission, consent, licensed payment, and remuneration.

"So it is an important part of the IPA's job to discuss how each country is going to deal with this new technology and this new copyright infringement," Pansa told PTI, adding that the organisation will soon pen an open letter regarding the issue.

IPA, founded in 1896 in Paris with the promotion and defence of copyright and the freedom to publish, is the world's largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the organisation comprises 100 plus members from 81 countries.

Terming the alleged copyright infringement by the big tech companies -- including Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI -- a serious matter, Pansa said it is sad that not many people, even those belonging to the publishing industry, are aware of the unfair use of the authors' copyrighted works.

She encouraged publishers to come forward and raise their concerns, ensuring IPA's full support.

"We need to make sure that the publishers also value their own work, because sometimes they don't.

"They just publish, they do their best with their content, but they do not brand, they don't value their names, we need to make them powerful, just the same way as these tech companies have," pointed Pansa, who is also the owner of Girassol Brasil Edições -- a children's book publishing house in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Globally, several groups of authors, including the likes of novelist John Grisham and "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin, have filed lawsuits over the use of their text in AI training.

Elaborating on how to deal with generative AI content, the Brazilian publisher argued against amending copyright laws and said the current set of rules are well-equipped to hold the big tech companies accountable for the violation.

"The law doesn't need to be changed or updated because it is clearly mentioned what is fair use and what is unfair. So, it doesn't need to be changed , it just needs to be respected," she added.

That said, Pansa here clarified that she is not someone who is against the use of AI per se and in fact encourages authors to embrace the technology.

When asked about concerns regarding writers' running out of jobs because of the advent of AI, she replied: "AI is not creative enough, it is just recombination of used patterns and data at best".

"We are not asking to end GPT. We all should embrace technology, and authors today are using it, maybe to correct their draft or to make sure that they have the right words. But the main idea, the original creation, is theirs," she concluded.