A new Wolters Kluwer series kicks off by examining whether collective licensing—long used in music and text-and-data-mining contexts—could offer a workable path for compensating rightsholders whose works train generative AI models. For data companies and AI developers watching the copyright litigation pile up, the framing matters: collective schemes could reduce transaction costs and litigation risk, but only if rightsholders, licensing bodies, and AI firms can agree on scope and rates.
The piece signals that regulators and industry groups may increasingly look to collective mechanisms as an alternative to case-by-case licensing or continued reliance on fair-use defenses.
Collective Licensing for Gen AI Training: Feasible or Flawed? – Part 1