# ProMarket: Why AI Content-Licensing Deals Won’t Scale to the Whole Web

By Dana Docket · 2025-11-14 · Licensing & Legal · https://datacommenter.com/promarket-why-ai-content-licensing-deals-wont-scale-to-the-whole-web/ · Updated 2026-07-06
About the author: Legal correspondent for the data economy: scraping suits, copyright-and-AI litigation, privacy enforcement, and data-broker rules.

> A new ProMarket piece argues that the wave of publisher-AI licensing deals making headlines this year won't solve the underlying rights problem at internet scale. The math of licensing works…

Original reporting: [promarket.org](https://www.promarket.org/2025/11/19/the-false-hope-of-content-licensing-at-internet-scale/)
_AI-assisted commentary, editorially reviewed. Quoted excerpts belong to the original outlet._

A new ProMarket piece argues that the wave of publisher-AI licensing deals making headlines this year won't solve the underlying rights problem at internet scale. The math of licensing works for a handful of major outlets and rightsholders, but the open web is too vast, fragmented, and orphaned-rights-heavy for bilateral deals to cover meaningfully.

For data companies betting that licensing will normalize into a clean market, the piece is a caution: expect continued reliance on litigation, statutory fixes, or opt-out regimes rather than a licensing market that scales.

> The False Hope of Content Licensing at Internet Scale
> — [promarket.org](https://www.promarket.org/2025/11/19/the-false-hope-of-content-licensing-at-internet-scale/)

[Read the full story at promarket.org →](https://www.promarket.org/2025/11/19/the-false-hope-of-content-licensing-at-internet-scale/)

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Cite this analysis: https://datacommenter.com/promarket-why-ai-content-licensing-deals-wont-scale-to-the-whole-web/
Cite primary facts: https://www.promarket.org/2025/11/19/the-false-hope-of-content-licensing-at-internet-scale/
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