How to Update EU and US Copyright Regimes in the Age of AI

We expect the European Union (EU) and United States (US) to travel along very different paths particularly regarding the use of news and other copyrighted works in AI training and development. The two regions have different legal frameworks and traditions, with the US relying on an expansive definition of “fair use” that is not recognized in the rest of the world, while Europe offers data privacy protections that are not present in the US. Building on data provided by the European Union’s Media Pluralism Monitor, this paper discusses different ways of valuing news content, the state of current copyright negotiations between news publishers and prominent AI firms, and the consequences for media sustainability, media diversity and pluralism. We note too that there are multiple proposals for statutory levies on the AI firms that would be distributed to authors. Which, if any, will be adopted is not clear.