The Authors Guild

New docs in the 'The Authors Guild v. OpenAI' lawsuit reveal that OpenAI & Microsoft knowingly used copyrighted books without permission to train their AI models, despite being aware of the potential harm to authors and the literary industry. Learn more! https://lnkd.in/ek2PaZ-u

It was a privilege to help bring The Authors Guild to Capitol Hill to discuss the future of copyright, free expression, and AI. The delegation included esteemed authors David Baldacci, W. Ralph Eubanks, Laura Pedersen, Adriana Trigiani, and Charles Graeber, whose advocacy helped reinforce a simple principle: creators deserve to control and be compensated for the use of their work. Thanks also to the outstanding Authors Guild team: CEO Mary Rasenberger, Director of Policy & Advocacy Umair Kazi, and Chief Legal Officer Kevin Amer.

Many successful authors have a tax secret: they employ themselves through their own company, funneling royalties through a corporate entity to reduce what they owe. Tom Clancy did it. But it comes with a copyright risk most authors don't know about—and when Clancy's estate tried to untangle it, the case ended up before a jury. 💼 Some authors structure their publishing deals through a loan-out company, formally employing themselves through a corporate entity for potential tax benefits. ⚖️ But U.S. copyright law gives authors and their heirs the right to terminate any grant of rights 35–40 years after publication—and that right belongs only to individuals, not companies. 🔍 Copyright law applies its own test for employment status, independent of tax law, meaning a court could find that the loan-out structure disqualifies the author from exercising the termination right entirely. 🚨 If a court does find the author was a true employee, the termination right doesn't shift to the company—it disappears, permanently locking in the publisher's rights no matter who owns the company. If you have a loan-out company—or are thinking about setting one up—read this before you sign anything: https://lnkd.in/eGWGGbgY The Authors Guild's legal services department is available to members for guidance. Submit a request at staff@authorsguild.org.

Are state laws killing the future of American #authors? Find out what renowned author James Patterson says in his recent #oped! https://lnkd.in/euisc5rS The Authors Guild Association of American Publishers (AAP)

Authors Guild legal staff and board members recently went to Washington, D.C., to urge US Congress to support legislation that would: * Require consent before AI training on copyrighted works and disclosure of what's already been used (CLEAR Act, TRAIN Act) * Establish that unauthorized AI training does not qualify as fair use (Sen. Blackburn's AI framework) * Create a private right of action for authors to sue developers who ingested their work without consent (AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act) * Mandate labeling of AI-generated content (Protecting Consumers from Deceptive AI Act) * Shut down foreign piracy sites that have devastated author income — and supplied much of the training data for major AI models (Block BEARD Act, Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act) The delegation included bestselling author and Guild member David Baldacci, a plaintiff in the Authors Guild’s class action against OpenAI; Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger; Director of Advocacy and Policy Umair Kazi; Chief Legal Officer Kevin Amer; Authors Guild President and author W. Ralph Eubanks; and Authors Guild Foundation Board and Guild Council Members Laura Pedersen, Adriana Trigiani, and Charles Graeber, one of the three named plaintiffs in the author class-action lawsuit against Anthropic that resulted in a $1.5 billion settlement, the largest copyright settlement in history. Several offices — including those of Sen. Schiff, Rep. Foushee, and Rep. Johnson — committed to follow up on specific legislative language. Read more about it and hear from the authors here: https://lnkd.in/eHpz_cJi

We chose five of the top AI detection tools available today and a list of ten Authors Guild articles—all published in 2022 or earlier, before the widespread availability of generative AI—and submitted each piece to all five detection tools. Because the articles predate the technology, any tool performing accurately should return a low AI-detection score across the board. The results? A False Sense of Security. Our test confirms that while a couple of AI detection tools accurately identify human-authored text, some commonly used consumer-facing AI detection tools are wildly inaccurate, which presents a major risk for authors. Moreover, these tools change constantly—updated models, shifting benchmarks, evolving AI outputs—and their accuracy at any given moment cannot be assumed. AI-detection tools are AI models trained to recognize statistical patterns associated with large language model output, such as sentence rhythm, vocabulary distribution, and predictability of word choice. But polished, edited prose written by experienced human writers shares many of those same characteristics, because LLMs were trained on polished, edited prose written by experienced human writers. The more refined and controlled a writer’s style, the more it may resemble the output these tools are designed to flag. This creates a troubling paradox. A writer who has spent decades honing clarity, economy, and precision is, by definition, writing in a way that overlaps with what AI has learned to produce. Detection tools cannot distinguish between a human writer who has mastered the craft and a machine that has learned to imitate it, because at the level these tools operate, there may be little difference to find. Publishers should be extremely cautious about using the tools and should never rely exclusively on them. At minimum, publishers should disclose their methodology, keep themselves updated on the ongoing accuracy of the tools they use, and create processes that give authors a fair and full opportunity to defend themselves. Publishers should never cancel a contract or pull a book on the basis of accusations or use of these tools alone; it would be a material contract breach to do so. The Authors Guild is looking at these issues closely and will issue further recommendations. In the meantime, if you are an Authors Guild member who has been falsely accused of AI use, please reach out to us for legal assistance. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/d3dfY-s5

⚠️ Writers Beware: U.S. Copyright Office Email Scam 🚨 We have learned that some authors are receiving deceptive and fraudulent emails from someone impersonating the United States Copyright Office (USCO), asking recipients to verify their copyright registrations. These emails are fraudulent and do not come from the Copyright Office. Authentic emails from the USCO end in @copyright.gov. Importantly, the USCO does not “demand payment by email or text, threaten lawsuits, or require immediate action to avoid penalties” (Beware of Copyright Scams: How to Spot Fraud and Protect Yourself). These imposter emails, sent from the domain “@copyrightgov.org” and the non-existent “United States Copyright Authority,” falsely claim to be sent as an “OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND COPYRIGHT OFFICE,” which appears to combine the names of the Copyright Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). They tell recipients that they must verify certain details for their copyright registration to remain viable and that confirmation is required under federal law. This is untrue. These emails may contain real copyright registration identifiers, which makes them appear legitimate—but they are not. How to Protect Yourself Take a moment to review and verify the authenticity of the communication, including by carefully checking the email address from which it has been sent. Log in to the Electronic Copyright Office portal to check if it is an official confirmed communication from the USCO. Report any fraudulent emails to the Office of Inspector General at the Copyright Office: https://lnkd.in/eSGexWHx Report any fraudulent emails to the FTC: https://lnkd.in/dMiV83F Report any fraudulent emails to the FBI, Internet Crime Division: https://www.ic3.gov/ We advise members to beware of unsolicited messages; if you have received a similar message or another message you believe to be a scam, email us at staff@authorsguild.org.

Learn what Association of American Publishers (AAP) President and CEO Maria A. Pallante and The Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger have to say about the prolific audiobook #piracy problem on YouTube and why the platform needs to step up to fix it! https://lnkd.in/ejNSaFPk

What happens when a publisher stops paying royalties, stops communicating, and holds authors' books hostage for years? The Authors Guild goes to court. After unanswered emails, missing royalties, and a book stuck in limbo — even after a court-enforced repayment agreement went ignored — we filed suit on behalf of 18 members against TouchPoint Press. On April 1, 2026, we won a default judgment in Arkansas. The authors who brought this case have their rights back. The court has entered findings of fraud and intentional misrepresentation on the record. For writers who spent years in limbo, unable to move forward with their work, that is no small thing. We're grateful to the 18 members whose persistence made this outcome possible. And we hope this case serves as a reminder to all writers: research your publisher carefully before you sign. Read our full overview here: https://lnkd.in/egCv-Ng6