On Saturday, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) issued a response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's request for public comment regarding the development of the Administration's Artificial Intelligence Action Plan. In their submission, the AAP emphasized the critical role of copyright protections in maintaining American leadership in AI markets.
The response calls on the Administration to bolster copyright protections, foster partnerships between American companies, promote licensing arrangements, reject expanded fair use arguments, condemn the use of pirate sites for AI training, and collaborate with Congress on transparency requirements.
“The United States is an unmatched leader in both technology and intellectual property, both of which are key to global AI markets,” Maria A. Pallante, president and CEO, Association of American Publishers, said. “We thank the White House for the opportunity to inform its action plan and look forward to working with all parts of the Administration to ensure that authors, publishers, and all creative sectors are protected and positioned to partner with AI developers to achieve the extraordinary benefits of AI for the long term, in safe and lawful fashion. Among our priorities is stopping the proliferation of pirate sites that are a scourge on American IP investments and an illegal source of AI development.”
The AAP's involvement in AI policy discussions comes at a crucial time for the publishing industry, with publishers increasingly concerned about unauthorized use of their intellectual property for AI training purposes while simultaneously exploring ways to incorporate AI tools into their own operations. There are currently dozens of lawsuits seeking to remedy the tech industry’s theft of copywritten material and establish precedent to protect the publishing industry going forward.
Pallante expressed cautious optimism about the current political landscape during a keynote panel at last week's London Book Fair titled "AI and Copyright: Policy Developments in the UK and US." "The Trump Administration was generally pretty good on IP [intellectual property]. And the U.S Congress, which is predominantly Republican right now, has generally been pretty good on IP, historically," Pallante said. "The 'X factor' is that the tech sector literally lives in D.C. That is now a factor that now needs to be managed. Ideally, we want an end to conflict."
The AAP submission also highlights the publishing industry's significant economic impact, noting that American publishers generate nearly $30 billion annually in the U.S. alone and are part of the broader U.S. copyright industries that add more than $2.09 trillion in annual value to U.S. gross domestic product.
"By upholding U.S. intellectual property—including the copyright laws that protect and incentivize the ongoing investments of publishers and authors—the United States can signal to other nations that they must not weaken their own copyright laws," the submission states.
The organization warns that weakening copyright protections internationally could undermine American intellectual property exports and harm creative industries. The submission also emphasizes that licensing "helps feed copyright commerce worldwide for American creators" while also providing "critical benefits for AI developers" by incentivizing data collection and enabling startups to compete on factors beyond data collection capabilities.
As noted, among AAP's primary concerns is the use of pirated content in AI development. "As the White House drives AI leadership, the country has a pivotal opportunity to strengthen its opposition to pirate sites and denounce the use of pirate repositories to create AI training datasets," the submission noted, calling such practices "clearly illegal" and a risk to innovation.
The AAP specifically warns against "Big Tech's calls for sweeping exceptions to copyright" and urges the White House to reject what it terms a "bloated fair use defense" that could potentially "dismantle centuries of copyright law and destroy evolving licensing markets and future IP investment." Meanwhile, over the weekend OpenAI urged the Trump administration to eliminate guardrails and lighten regulation applied to fair use.
The complete text of the AAP’s response can be found here.
