The Association of American Publishers’ Lui Simpson, left, and the Publishers Association’s Catriona MacLeod Stevenson were was onstage in December at the International Publishers Association’s 34th Publishers Congress, produced by Mexico’s CANIEM and the AAP. With them in a session called ‘Enforcing Copyrights Online: A Survey of Enforcement Frameworks’ was Dalton Morato of Brazil’s Associação Brasileira de Defesa dos Direitos Autorais e Reprográficos. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
AI Rights for Authors: ‘Created by Humans’ Launches
Canadian Copyright: Concerns in light of the Justin Trudeau Resignation
The Publishers Association on the UK’s AI Consultation
Copyright: International Publishers in Guadalajara Cheer the Internet Archive Suit’s End
A Leadership Change at IPA on Copyright
As Germany’s Jessica Sänger completes her term as chair of the International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) Copyright committee chair, it’s been announced this morning from the IPA’s offices in Geneva that Lui Simpson and Catriona MacLeod Stevenson will succeed Sänger in the leadership of this important IPA committee.
All three of these women are familiar to Publishing Perspectives readers, who will note the representation of key national publishers’ associations in this increasingly pivotal element of IPA’s work.
Copyright is one of the two foundational “pillars” of IPA’s work, the other being the freedom to publish.
In the advent of the training of large language models using often unlicensed copyrighted property by generative artificial intelligence programs, threats to copyright protections have moved beyond the more commonly observed legislative blunders, as in the case of the long-running deleterious Copyright Modernization Act of Canada, and infringement challenges, as in the recently concluded case of the Internet Archive and its arguments for “controlled digital lending.”
Jessica Sänger
Jessica Sänger is the director for European and international affairs with the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany’s publishers’ and booksellers’ association. In handing off, as the Copyright committee lead, she says, “It has been a real honor to chair this important committee, especially at a time when artificial intelligence has exploded.
“My deepest thanks go to all my colleagues on the committee for their support and engagement and I look forward to working with Lui and Catriona, who I have no doubt will lead the committee exceptionally well.”
Lui Simpson
Lui Simpson of the Association of American Publishers is the AAP’s executive vice-president for global policy, and in a comment for today’s announcement, says, “We thank Jessica for her excellent leadership of the IPA Copyright committee over the last five years.
“Through the work of the committee, IPA has ably supported its members and engaged around the world on vital issues that affect publishers.”
Catriona MacLeod Stevenson
Catriona MacLeod Stevenson is general counsel and deputy CEO of the Publishers Association led by CEO Dan Conway.
For today’s news, Stevenson says, “IPA’s members face a range of copyright challenges in their markets at a generationally important moment in which we need to tackle the unlicensed use of copyright protected works by generative AI platforms.
“I’m looking forward to working with Lui and the IPA team to champion the global importance of strong copyright laws and enforcement frameworks.”
The IPA Copyright committee, of course, is the association’s main body dealing with copyright policy issues, facilitating the exchange of information on local developments between IPA members. It also provides support on consultation processes and leads IPA’s engagement at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
In July 2024, the IPA’s Copyright committee adopted a comprehensive position on copyright and generative AI, which you can review here.
Also last year, members of the national associations of IPA were invited to see a series of webinars, two on artificial intelligence and one on copyright enforcement, as well as a discussion between IPA past president Karine Pansa and WIPO director general Daren Tang.
For the other crucial pillar of the IPA’s work, the world organization’s Freedom to Publish committee is led by the Norwegian publisher and founding CEO of the World Expression Forum (WEXFO), Kristenn Einarsson. That committee’s Prix Voltaire, which has opened its nominations process for the 2025 honor, is directed by James Taylor.
A Programming Note
On London Book Fair‘s opening day, March 11 at a 3 p.m. GMT, a discussion on the Olympia London Main Stage will feature the Publishers Association‘s Dan Conway and the Association of American Publishers‘ president and CEO, Maria A. Pallante on AI and Copyright: Policy Developments in the UK and US.
Clearly, the timing of the close in late February of the UK government’s open consultation will make this a timely conversation, to be edited by Publishing Perspectives.
A description of this presentation reads, “AI is here to stay and so are the policy debates that will shape its development and deployment for years to come. In particular, many publishers around the world are watching developments in the UK and US, where regulators, legislators, and courts are weighing legal disputes and policy proposals that could have global ramifications for copyright laws.
“Please join us for a British, American, and decidedly human discussion on the most important issue of the day.”
More from Publishing Perspectives on artificial intelligence is here; more on copyright and international book publishing is here; and more on the work of the International Publishers Association is here. More from Publishing Perspectives on issues of the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, more on the Prix Voltaire is here, and more on the World Expression Forum, WEXFO, is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the global media partner of the International Publishers Association.