Q&A with our CIO: How the news industry’s AI clashes impact creators
As Big Tech companies continue to train their AI models on creator content without permission or compensation, tensions are flaring around copyright issues. Lawsuits are piling up, intensifying the ongoing battle between the people creating content and the platforms distributing it.
In his recent piece for Forbes our Chief Innovation Officer Marc McCollum laid out exactly what’s at stake during this pivotal moment: the future of the internet. We sat down with Marc to talk about what’s going on at an industry level, how it impacts creators, and the domino effect it may have on the internet as we know it.
What’s the issue at the heart of the lawsuits between publishers and AI companies?
News outlets like The New York Times and NewsCorp are accusing AI companies of scraping, repurposing, and monetizing content without permission or compensating the original creators. The issue is more than copyright infringement; it’s a fight over who controls internet content and who benefits financially. If tech giants keep stealing content without compensating creators, we risk losing the diverse, free-flowing exchange of ideas that makes the internet valuable.
Are there other disputes tied to this issue?
Yes. This struggle over balance and control is not new, but it’s evolving with the introduction of AI. Many ongoing clashes form a larger David-and-Goliath story of creators and publishers fighting back against dominant platforms:
- Antitrust lawsuits against Google for monopolistic practices in search and ad tech
- Revenue-sharing disputes highlighting restrictive app store practices
- Meta’s legal battles over compensating publishers in Australia and Canada.
- Algorithm changes, such as Facebook’s shifts that reduced publishers’ organic reach
What’s at stake for creators and publishers?
The stakes are huge. The outcome of these disputes will determine whether content creators—from major news outlets to individual creators—can sustain their businesses in an AI-driven world.
If platforms can freely use content without fair compensation or permissions, it undermines your work and threatens your livelihood.
It sounds very daunting. How can independent creators navigate this?
This is a pivotal moment for the industry and for creators, but these disputes are part of a long history of tension between content creators and tech platforms. It’s the latest example of platforms drawing on their power to turn walled gardens into fortresses. To help creators succeed, we’ll need legal resolutions and a deeper rethinking of how digital content is created, distributed, and monetized.
But we know that creators are resilient. You’ve kept innovating and creating as the ground shifts beneath you, and we believe that together, we can weather this storm. The public is on your side too: a News Media Alliance survey found strong public support for regulating AI to protect creators’ livelihoods.
What needs to happen in order to level the playing field?
We’re calling for a framework to ensure fair compensation and control for creators and publishers. This includes:
- Empowering creators with control: You should hold the authority to determine how platforms use your content without being held hostage. Telling Google that they can’t train AI Overviews on your content cannot impact your visibility in search results.
- Compensation as a right: Your content has value to tech platforms, especially in AI-driven services. We need to establish an equitable compensation approach based on how platforms use your content and how impactful it is.
- Fair competition: All creators and publishers, no matter their size, deserve the chance to succeed in a fair competitive environment. We need guardrails on the development of new technologies to ensure everyone gets a fair shot.
What is Raptive doing to advocate for creators in 2025?
We’ve long been calling for creator protections and responsible AI development, and every year our voices get louder. From the launch of our AI open letter to last summer’s advocacy event on Capitol Hill and, most recently, our support of the Keep it real campaign, we have no plans of backing down in 2025. And word is spreading: last week Good Morning America did a segment on this issue and highlighted what’s at stake and the goals of Keep it real.
What does the future look like for creators and the internet?
These conflicts are a real Sliding Doors moment for the industry. The outcomes will shape how content is created, shared, and monetized in the future. We’ll also see whether or not the internet remains a vibrant, open marketplace for ideas, which will only be possible if content creators are protected.
Creators of all types—from journalists to small business owners—deserve fair compensation, control, and opportunities to compete. How we address these challenges today will define the internet for years to come.
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