Yesterday, I represented Authors Alliance in a Copyright Office listening session on copyright issues in AI-generated literary works, in the first of two of such sessions that the Office convened yesterday afternoon. I was pleased to be invited to share our views with the Office and participate in a rousing discussion among nine other stakeholders, representing a diverse group of industries and positions. Generative AI raises challenging legal questions, particularly for its skeptics, but it also presents some incredible opportunities for authors and other creators.

During the listening session, I emphasized the potential for generative AI programs (like OpenAI’s Chat GPT, Microsoft’s Bing AI, Jasper, and others) to support authorship in a number of different ways. For instance, generative AI programs support authors by increasing the efficiency of some of the practical aspects of being a working author aside from their writings. But more importantly, generative AI programs can actually help authors express themselves and create new works of authorship. 

In the first category, generative AI programs can support authors by, for example, helping them create text for pitch letters to send to agents and editors, produce copy for their professional websites, and develop marketing strategies for their books. Making these activities more efficient frees up time for authors to focus on their writing, particularly for authors whose writing time is limited by other commitments. 

In the second category, generative AI has tremendous potential to help authors come up with new ideas for stories, develop characters, summarize their writings, and perform early stage edits of manuscripts. Moreover, and particularly for academic authors, generative AI can be an effective research tool for authors seeking to learn from a large corpus of texts. Generative AI programs can help authors research by providing short and simple summaries of complex issues, surveys of the landscape of various fields, or even guidance on what human works to turn to in their research. Authors Alliance is committed to protecting authors’ right to conduct research, and we see generative AI tools as a new, innovative, and efficient form of conducting this research. Making research easier helps authors save time, and has a particular benefit for authors with disabilities that make it difficult to travel to multiple libraries or otherwise rely on analog forms of research. 

These programs undoubtedly have the potential to serve as powerful creative tools that support authorship in these ways and more, but, when discussing the copyright implications of the programs and the works they produce, it’s important to remember just how new these technologies are. Because generative AI remains in its infancy, and the costs and benefits for different segments of the creative industry have yet to be seen, it seems to me to be sensible to preserve the development of these tools before crafting legal solutions to problems they might pose in the future. And in fact, in our view, U.S. copyright law already has the tools to deal with many of the legal challenges that these programs might post. When generative AI outputs look too much like the copyrighted inputs they are trained on, the substantial similarity test can be used to assess claims of copyright infringement to vindicate an authors’ exclusive rights in their works when those outputs do infringe. 

In any case, in order for generative AI programs to be effective creative tools, it’s necessary that they are trained on large corpora. Narrowing the corpus of works the programs are trained on—through compulsory licensing or other mechanisms—can have disastrous effects. For example, research has shown that narrow data sets are more likely to produce racial and gender bias in AI outputs. In our view, the “input” step, where the programs are trained on a large corpus of works, is a fair use of these texts. And the holdings in Google Books and HathiTrust indicate that it is consistent with fair use to build large corpora of works, including works that remain protected by copyright, for applications such as computational research and information discovery. Additionally, the Copyright Office has recognized this principle in the context of research and scholarship, as demonstrated by its approval of Authors Alliance’s petition for an exemption from DMCA restrictions for text and data mining. 

The question of the copyright status of AI-generated works is an important one. Most if not all of the stakeholders participating in this discussion agreed with the Copyright Office’s recent guidance regarding registration in AI-generated works: under ordinary copyright principles, the lack of human authorship means these texts are not protected by copyright. This being said, we also recognize that there may be challenges in reconciling existing copyright principles with these new types of works and the questions about authorship, creativity, and market competition that they might pose. 

But importantly, while this technology is still in its early stages, it serves the core purposes of copyright—furthering the progress of science and the useful arts by incentivizing new creation—to allow these systems to develop and confront new legal challenges as they emerge. Copyright is not only about protecting the exclusive rights of copyright holders (a concern that underlies many arguments against generative AI as a fair use), but incentivizing creativity for the public benefit. The new forms of creation made possible through generative AI can incentivize people who would not otherwise create expressive works to do so, bringing more people into creative industries and adding new creative expression to the world to the benefit of the public.

The listening sessions were recorded, and will be available on the Copyright Office website in the coming weeks. And these listening sessions are only the beginning of the Office’s investigation of copyright in AI generated works. Other listening sessions on visual works, music, and audiovisual works will be held in the coming weeks, and the Office has indicated that there will be an opportunity for written public comments in order for stakeholders to weigh in further. We are committed to remaining involved in these cutting edge issues, through written comments and otherwise, and we will keep our readers informed as policy around generative AI continues to evolve. 

Yesterday, Authors Alliance submitted a comment to the U.S. Copyright Office in response to a notice of proposed rulemaking asking for feedback from the public on new rules to govern ex parte communications. “Ex parte communications” refer to communications outside the normal, permitted channels of communication—in this case, to communications between organizations or members of the public and Copyright Office staff outside of hearings or other formal proceedings. Ex parte communications with the Copyright Office are important, because they allow stakeholders and the office to work out open questions in rulemakings or other proceedings outside of the formal channels. Authors Alliance relied on our ability to make ex parte communications during the last Section1201 rulemaking cycle (where we obtained our text data mining exemption) in order to clarify certain issues. Now, the Office is proposing establishing formal rules for how these communications can be made, as well as establishing transparency around them. We support this proposal, and shared our thoughts in a comment. You can read our full comment here.

On Friday, Southern District of New York Judge John Koeltl issued a much-anticipated decision in Hachette Books v. Internet Archive. Unfortunately, as many of our members and allies are aware, the judge ruled against the Internet Archive, finding that its CDL program was not protected by the doctrine of fair use and granting the publishers’ motion for summary judgment. You can read the 47-page decision for yourself here. 

In his fair use analysis, Judge Koeltl found that each of the four fair use factors weighed in favor of the publishers, emphasizing above all else his view that IA’s controlled digital lending program was not transformative, an important consideration under the first fair use factor, which considers the purpose and character of the use. This inquiry also involves asking whether the use in question was commercial. To the surprise of many, the decision stated that IA’s use of the publishers’ works was commercial, because the Open Library is part of the IA’s website, which it uses “to attract new members, solicit donations, and bolster its standing in the library community.” The judge found this to be the case in spite of the fact that IA “does not make a monetary profit” from CDL. In other words, the judge held that the indirect, attenuated benefits the Internet Archive (which is, after all, a nonprofit) reaps from operating the Open Library makes its CDL program commercial. 

Judge Koeltl gave less attention to the fourth factor in the fair use analysis, “the effect of the use on the potential market for the work,” which is often held up to be of significant importance. One consideration under this factor is whether the use creates a competing substitute with the original work. Unfortunately, on this point too, the court—in our view—missed the mark. This is because the decision does not draw a distinction between CDL scans and ebooks, going so far as to call CDL scans “ebooks” throughout. As we explained in our summary of the proceedings last week, many features of both CDL and ebooks make them both functionally and aesthetically distinct from one another. By glossing over these differences, the judge reached the conclusion that CDL scans are direct substitutes for licensed ebooks.

Authors Alliance is deeply concerned about the ramifications of this decision, which was exceedingly broad in scope, striking a tremendous blow to the CDL model, rather than only IA’s implementation of it. Local libraries across the country practice CDL, and library patrons and authors alike depend on it to read, research, and participate in academic discourse. 

As it stands, this decision only applies to Internet Archive and is only about the 127 books on which the publishers based their lawsuit. It does not set a binding precedent for any other library, but if left in place (or worse, if affirmed on appeal), it could cause libraries to avoid digitizing and lending books under a CDL model, which in our view would not serve the interests of many authors. This decision makes it harder for those authors to reach wide audiences: CDL enables many authors to reach more readers than they could otherwise, and authors like our members who write to be read would not be served if fewer readers could access their books. 

The decision also hampers efforts to preserve books—aside from IA’s scanning program, there are few if any centralized efforts to preserve books in digital format once their commercial life is over. Without CDL, those books could quite literally disappear, and the knowledge they advance could be lost. IA’s scanning operations do preserve such books, which is one reason we have strongly supported them in this lawsuit. By the same token, if this decision stands, it will also limit authors’ ability to conduct efficient research online. The CDL survey we launched last year revealed that CDL is an effective research tool for authors who need to consult other books as part of their writing process, and in many cases it enables them to access far more works than they could at their local library alone. Authors who rely on CDL in this way would be harmed by this decision, as they could well be forced to undergo a more time-consuming research process, detracting from time that could be spent writing. 

The Internet Archive has already indicated that it will be appealing Judge Koeltl’s ruling, and we look forward to supporting those efforts. We will continue to keep our readers and members apprised of updates as this case moves forward.

Earlier today, Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York heard oral arguments in Hachette Book Group v. Internet Archive—a case Authors Alliance has been following since the lawsuit was first filed back in 2020. The case is about—among other things—whether Internet Archive’s controlled digital lending program qualifies as a fair use. Authors Alliance submitted an amicus brief in support of the Internet Archive back in July, arguing that CDL serves the interests of authors who write to be read. IA’s attorney cited to our brief during oral argument, and we are pleased that we were able to magnify the voices of authors who write to be read through its submission. You can learn more about the case and read our brief here.

In the hearing, the judge considered each party’s motion for summary judgment. The parties hotly contested a number of key issues in the case, including whether each side’s experts had properly demonstrated market harm (or lackthereof), what the appropriate market to consider was for purposes of fair use analysis, the commerciality of IA’s use, and what legal cases supported both arguments in favor of and against fair use. Judge Koeltl asked the Internet Archive’s attorney a number of probing questions on these points, grappling with the difficult questions in this case. The judge further implied that there may be open issues of fact in this case, which could indicate the need for additional briefings or hearings. 

CDL and Commerciality

The parties disagreed on the commerciality of IA’s use when it produces and makes CDL scans available. The publishers attorney argued that IA’s CDL operations are “intertwined” with its other functions, such as its ownership of the book vendor Better World Books, and further emphasizing its argument that CDL loans result in lost revenue for the publisher—in other words, that the supposed commercial harm to the publishers that results from CDL lending makes the CDL lending itself commercial. The Internet Archive’s attorney answered that IA is a nonprofit organization that does not profit at all from its CDL program. He pointed to the fact that traditional library lending is not commercial in nature and does not provide libraries like IA with commercial benefits. 

CDL and Market Effects

The plaintiffs’ attorney began by setting forth plaintiffs’ views on the issue of market harm—the fourth factor in fair use analysis, often cited as one of the most important factors in the inquiry. Plaintiffs discussed what they see as massive financial harm stemming from IA’s CDL program, which they estimated to amount to “millions of dollars in licensing revenues.” Plaintiffs also emphasized that, were CDL “given the green light,” or upheld as a fair use, the plaintiffs would suffer even greater losses. Throughout her argument, plaintiffs’ attorney emphasized the “basic economic principle and common sense is that you cannot compete with free.” In other words, the publishers argue that the ebook library licensing market could collapse altogether if CDL were allowed to continue. Yet this misses the point that CDL is a longstanding and established practice, which has seen adoption and growth in libraries across the country while the ebook licensing market has continued to thrive. 

Judge Koeltl, however, pressed the publishers on whether they had shown evidence of actual market harm, i.e. proof that IA’s CDL program had directly harmed their bottom line. In response, plaintiffs criticized the expert evidence offered by IA’s experts to show that no such harm had occurred. This is a difficult question because the party asserting a fair use defense typically has the burden of showing that the use has not harmed the market, but it exceedingly difficult to prove a negative. 

The judge also questioned whether CDL actually could represent such a loss: the publishers’ argument rests on the premise that libraries loan out CDL scans in lieu of paying to license ebooks, and were CDL not permitted under the law, IA and other libraries would instead choose to pay licensing fees to lend out ebooks. The judge pointed out that the result might in fact be that libraries would choose not to lend digital copies of works out at all, or would instead lend out physical books, undercutting the lost licensing revenue argument. 

IA’s attorney argued that the publishers had not offered empirical evidence of market harm in this case, focusing on the fact that when a library lends out a CDL scan, it does so in lieu of a physical book, “simulating the limitations of physical books.” This is due to CDL’s “owned to loaned” ratio requirement: a library can only loan out the number of CDL scans as it has physical books in its collection, and can only loan these scans out to one patron at a time. When a library lends out a CDL scan, it does so in lieu of loaning the physical book, for which it has already paid. And while the plaintiffs mentioned harm to authors (who are, after all, the people that copyright law is intended to protect) several times during their argument, they did this in a way that linked authors with publishers as parties that are financially invested in a works’ sale—author interests and the finer details of the economics of author income and library lending were absent from the discussion. 

The parties also disagreed about which market was the appropriate one to look to when discussing market harm in the context of fair use analysis. The publishers argued, and the judge seemed to assume, that the proper market is the library ebook licensing market. The judge opined that libraries could, instead of using CDL to lend out their books, simply purchase an ebook license. He seemed to view CDL scans and licensed ebooks as one and the same, despite the fact that there are several key differences between these types of loans, both in form and function, as explained in other amicus briefs in the case. Moreover, missing from the argument was the fact that, in many cases, libraries loan out CDL scans because no ebook is available to them: particularly for older books in a publisher’s backlist, or for books that are no longer available commercially, there is in many cases no ebook available, or no ebook available to libraries. Library patrons with print or mobility disabilities in need of digital copies of these kinds of works in order to read them would be greatly harmed if CDL were no longer permitted. 

CDL and Transformativeness

The publishers’ attorney started from the premise that CDL as a use was not transformative, explaining that a licensed ebook and a CDL scan served precisely the same function. In response, IA’s attorney in response argued that CDL is a transformative use because it “utilizes technology to achieve the transformative purpose of improving efficiency of delivering content without unreasonably encroaching on the rights of the rightsholder.” He further explained that fair uses are favored when they serve the key purpose of copyright: incentivizing new creation for the public benefit without harming the interests of rightsholders. To illustrate these benefits, he cited to Authors Alliance’s amicus brief, in which we explained the myriad ways that CDL benefits authors and can even incentivize the creation of new works. 

Adding to its transformativeness argument, IA explained that, when it comes to speculative or actual market harm, such an effect must be balanced against the public benefit that results from the use. And when it comes to CDL, this public benefit is tremendous: numerous amici, as well as Authors Alliance, explained that CDL serves the interests of library patrons, authors, and the public writ large. 

What’s Next?

Now that the judge has heard both sides’ arguments, he will issue a decision in the case. While there is no way of knowing exactly when this will happen, Judge Koeltl is known for issuing decisions fairly quickly, so we may have a decision as soon as later this week. As always, we will keep our members and readers apprised of any developments in this pivotal case as it moves forward.