NYT, Economist among publishers joining coalition to curb unpaid AI use

Oct 12 : The New York Times, Agence France-Presse and The Economist on Monday joined more than 40 publishers in a coalition aimed at preventing AI firms from using or profiting from their content without permission.

The Standards for Publisher Usage Rights (SPUR) coalition, launched in February, now has more than 80 members across over 20 countries. New members include The Atlantic and Brazil's National Association of Newspapers, joining founding members such as the Financial Times, BBC and Associated Press.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less SPUR, which is funded entirely by its members, is developing industry-wide standards and technical systems to help publishers track and control how AI companies use their content and facilitate licensing agreements, according to its website. "Intellectual property protection and technological advancement can and must co-exist," Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, the New York Times' head of strategic partnerships and chief of staff, said in a statement. Publishers are also grappling with declining referral traffic as search engines roll out AI-generated answers that allow users to consume information without clicking through to websites. Google organic-search referrals to more than 2,500 websites fell 33 per cent globally between November 2024 and November 2025, according to a Reuters Institute report, citing data from Chartbeat. SPUR said it recently introduced its Content Telemetry Standard, designed to standardize how AI agents record and report their use of media content, as part of efforts to ensure creators are compensated for their work.

SPUR, which is funded entirely by its members, is developing industry-wide standards and technical systems to help publishers track and control how AI companies use their content and facilitate licensing agreements, according to its website.

"Intellectual property protection and technological advancement can and must co-exist," Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, the New York Times' head of strategic partnerships and chief of staff, said in a statement.

Publishers are also grappling with declining referral traffic as search engines roll out AI-generated answers that allow users to consume information without clicking through to websites.

Google organic-search referrals to more than 2,500 websites fell 33 per cent globally between November 2024 and November 2025, according to a Reuters Institute report, citing data from Chartbeat.

SPUR said it recently introduced its Content Telemetry Standard, designed to standardize how AI agents record and report their use of media content, as part of efforts to ensure creators are compensated for their work.

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