Publishers Lunch reports (sub required) that three of the Big Five publishers—Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan—are adding contract language that prohibits the publisher from training AI models on the contracted work or licensing it for AI training. In some cases, this language must be requested as an addition by authors and agents; in other cases, it has been added to all boilerplate contracts. PRH still reserves the right to use a work in connection with AI tools for internal business operations, as noted in our May 8 issue.
Meanwhile, Hachette now requires authors to notify the publisher if they’ve used AI assistance when creating their work, aside from minor editing and correcting.
While some welcome these contractual changes, others (especially agents) do not want to make broad or universal contract changes related to AI while there continue to be so many unknowns. For authors worried about AI use in cover design, editing, translation, or audio narration, clauses that offer right of approval should be sufficient to avoid AI use.
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.
