A coalition established to protect publishers’ copyright in the age of artificial intelligence has expanded its membership, doubling the number of participating media organisations.
Known as Standards for Publisher Usage Rights (SPUR), the coalition was launched in February and already included major media groups such as the BBC, the Financial Times and the Associated Press.
The expanded initiative aims to help media companies track the use of their content, identify copyright infringements and negotiate commercial agreements with artificial intelligence companies behind services such as ChatGPT and Claude.
David Buttle, co-founder and spokesperson for the SPUR Coalition, said the initiative was gaining momentum as the industry sought to establish a fairer and more sustainable information economy.
He said high-quality journalism played a fundamental role in training AI models, but publishers currently lacked effective mechanisms to ensure they received fair compensation for their work.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) Chairman and Chief Executive Fabrice Fries also stressed the importance of recognising the contribution of journalism to AI-powered services.
He noted that millions of people relied on AI assistants every day for information collected and verified by news agency journalists.
Fries said the original value of journalistic work must be acknowledged through proper attribution and fair compensation. He added that the ability to trace content was not only essential for protecting intellectual property but also for maintaining public trust.
The coalition’s expansion comes amid growing concerns among media organisations over the use of copyrighted material by AI companies, particularly in the development and operation of generative AI tools.
Through improved content tracking and licensing arrangements, SPUR aims to establish clearer standards for how publishers’ work is used by AI developers and ensure that media organisations receive appropriate recognition and payment.
