HarperCollins Publishers has signed a deal with an unnamed company for access to certain nonfiction books for artificial intelligence training.
In a statement, a company spokesperson said the Big Five publisher has reached a deal “to allow limited use of select nonfiction backlist titles for training AI models to improve model quality and performance.”
HarperCollins believes the deal is “attractive” but is giving authors the choice of whether or not to opt in. The statement does not identify the company in question, but Bloomberg reports that the proposed deal is with Microsoft.
“Part of our role is to present authors with opportunities for their consideration while simultaneously protecting the underlying value of their works and our shared revenue and royalty streams,” the statement says. “This agreement, with its limited scope and clear guardrails around model output that respects author’s rights, does that.”
HarperCollins Canada did not say whether any of its Canadian authors are included in the proposed deal.
The Writers’ Union of Canada says that it “has been directly consulted on the proposition” and is studying the deal, as some of its members are affected by it, and that the proposed deal includes an opening bid of $5,000 per book.
“My mood is cautious optimism. We’ve been talking about — and fighting against — illicit use of authors’ work for AI training for years now, so the appearance of a licensing proposal from an AI company is somewhat refreshing,” TWUC chair Danny Ramadan said in a statement. “I know many authors’ first reaction to another AI story will be ‘ugh.’ That’s my first reaction as well. But artificial intelligence is here; it’s not going away; and it has already grabbed so much creative work without permission. Establishing a working rights-licensing marketplace is key to the future of professional creation.”
TWUC says there are details in the proposed agreement that should be re-examined, including the 50/50 split in royalties between the author and publisher.
On social media platform Bluesky, American author and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith posted what he says are a series of screenshots from his literary agency outlining the proposed deal. Kibblesmith says he was asked if he wanted to opt in to the program for a payment of $2,500 per title for a three-year period for his picture book Santa’s Husband. He declined.