The Authors Guild recently published a statement asserting that standard book publishing agreements do not grant publishers AI training rights; those rights remain with the author. (So far, Big Five publishers have proceeded as if they agree on this.) That means publishers must secure author permission to sell AI training rights under standard publishing agreements. The Authors Guild suggests a 75–85 percent split in favor of the author is fair.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
