European Publishers Say the EU is Giving In to AI

Forty European and global organizations, including the Federation of European Publishers, have issued a joint statement formally complaining to the European Commission about the implementation measures for the European Union AI Act.

The coalition, representing millions of authors, performers, publishers, producers, and other creatives across Europe, stated the final outcomes "fail to address the core concerns which our sectors—and the millions of creators and companies active in Europe which we represent—have consistently raised."

The organizations argued that despite extensive engagement throughout the process, the implementation package does not deliver meaningful protection of intellectual property rights in the context of generative AI. They also said that the EC has ignored their feedback and favored AI "providers that continuously infringe copyright and related rights to build their models." They noted that cultural and creative sectors contribute nearly 7% of the EU's GDP and employ 17 million professionals, yet are "being sold out in favor of those GenAI model providers."

The coalition called on the European Commission to revisit the implementation package and enforce the EU AI Act meaningfully, while also urging the European Parliament and member states to challenge what they termed an "unsatisfactory process." Signatories included dozens of organizations representing millions of creative professionals across Europe.