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Cambridge University Press says authors will opt in before it licenses work to generative AI

Cambridge University Press told The Bookseller in August 2024 that it is talking to authors about opt-in arrangements and fair remuneration before making any AI licensing deals. No deal, buyer or price was reported.

CAMBRIDGE, August 1, 2024 Cambridge University Press (CUP) told The Bookseller that authors will be given the choice to opt in to AI licensing before the press makes any deals with generative AI providers.12

What was said

infoDOCKET, summarizing the report, said CUP is talking to authors about opt-ins before making any deals and tied any deals to fair remuneration.1 Books+Publishing, citing The Bookseller, quoted Mandy Hill, managing director of academic publishing at CUP, saying CUP will put authors' interests and desires first before allowing their work to be licensed for generative AI.2

The Bookseller's headline described CUP as offering an opt-in, in contrast to Wiley and Oxford University Press, which confirmed AI partnerships.3 No deal, buyer, price or opt-in terms were published in the sources we could read.

What it means for data sellers

For authors, CUP's approach is the clearest example of consent-first AI licensing among the large academic presses in 2024. For AI buyers it signals that licensing through such publishers may depend on individual author agreement. This entry records a policy announcement, not a priced transaction.

This entry is a news summary. SellYourAIData was not involved in the deal.

How the deal came together

  1. CUP sets its approach. CUP said it is speaking with authors about opt-in arrangements before making any AI licensing deals.
  2. Remuneration is part of the plan. CUP tied any future deals to fair remuneration for authors.
  3. Authors come first. Academic publishing managing director Mandy Hill said CUP will put authors' interests and desires first before allowing their work to be licensed for generative AI.
  4. No counterparty yet. No partner, price or contract term was reported.

Takeaways for companies with data

  • A publisher can make author consent a precondition for AI licensing, which differs from publishers that signed first and informed authors later.
  • Opt-in structures may shrink the licensable catalog but reduce the risk of author disputes.
  • This was a stated policy, not a closed deal, so it should not be counted as sold data.

Sources

Every numbered reference above points to an entry here. Figures come from these pages as of the date shown at the top of the article. Where a source reports a number it got from unnamed people, the text says so.

  1. Report: Wiley, OUP Confirm AI Partnerships (infoDOCKET, August 2024)
  2. Wiley, OUP confirm AI partnerships (Books+Publishing, August 2024)
  3. Wiley, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press confirm AI partnerships (The Bookseller, August 2024)

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About the AI Data Deal Tracker

SellYourAIData tracks publicly reported sales and licenses of data to AI companies, with the price, terms and sources for each. Entries are checked against public reporting and updated as deals change. SellYourAIData was not involved in this deal. To ask what your company's data could sell for, get a free valuation. To report a deal, contact us.