Penguin Random House has implemented strict new copyright language to protect authors' intellectual property from AI training and usage. The updated policy explicitly states that no part of their books may be used to train artificial intelligence technologies or systems.

The new copyright notice will appear in all new titles and reprinted backlist books across all global imprints. It specifically reserves titles from text and data mining exceptions, aligning with European Parliament directives.

PRH UK CEO Tom Weldon emphasized that the publisher will "vigorously defend the intellectual property that belongs to our authors and artists." This stance has received support from The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society, with CEO Barbara Hayes encouraging other publishers to follow suit.

Several publishers have already taken practical steps by sending cease and desist letters to large language model platforms to prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted works. While Pan Macmillan, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster declined to comment on similar measures, Faber has implemented an 'AI Policy' prohibiting freelancers from using authors' content in AI programs for any purpose.

This move represents one of the strongest stances taken by a major publisher to protect creative works from unauthorized AI training usage, setting a potential precedent for the publishing industry.

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