April 8, 2025
“The Story Starts with Us” Forum Unites Creators, Innovators, and Policymakers on Copyright and AI Policy
Association of American Publishers and Copyright Alliance Host First-of-its-Kind, All-Day Program on Protecting Human Creativity in Artificial Intelligence
The Association of American Publishers and Copyright Alliance today hosted a first-of-its-kind, one-day forum at the Royal Sonesta Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, titled The Story Starts with Us: Protecting Human Creativity in Artificial Intelligence. The event explored the intersection of creative industries and emerging artificial intelligence technologies, bringing together authors, publishers, journalists, songwriters, tech innovators, and U.S. policymakers to address issues relating to copyright and generative AI, including the policy framework that protects the livelihoods of creators by preventing theft and misuse of their creative works.
As policymakers weigh the benefits and risks of generative AI technologies, the question of how to protect and incentivize the creative and intellectual expression of humans is of critical importance. Today’s forum presented the major issues of policy, practice, and ethics for AI and copyright law, from ingestion of creative works to the public deployment of tools and regenerated content – with a focus on text-centric creative industries.
The program opened with remarks from Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers; Keith Kupferschmid, CEO, Copyright Alliance; and U.S. Senator Peter Welch of Vermont.
“American books, news media, songs, research journals, and other published works are tremendously important IP assets that have been infringed by criminal pirate sites and some AI developers on a massive scale,” Ms. Pallante said. “As our policy leaders both embrace and regulate new frontiers for technology, we hope they will prioritize the legal rights and livelihoods of our human authors and publishers throughout the world. This moment calls for collaboration and lawful markets between sectors, not piracy, in keeping with our symbiotic tradition of creativity and innovation.”
Senator Peter Welch (VT) spoke about how lawmakers are approaching AI legislation: “Number one, acknowledge first and foremost, that the creator is entitled to effective copyright protections and compensation for the work that is done. Second, to have an administrative process where you have a good faith view that if your work has been used in the creation of content, you’ll have access to that information.”
“The main reason it’s so profoundly important is not just to protect the content and the monetary compensations that artists are entitled,” Senator Welch continued, “it’s really to make certain that the artistic community can continue to contribute to helping our society understand the world we are in. That is profoundly important to the well-being of our democracy – I believe that in the bottom of my bones.”
The Association of American Publishers and the Copyright Alliance presented the Forum in partnership with the Authors Guild, News/Media Alliance, National Music Publishers’ Association, and Nashville Songwriters Association International.
“As AI technology evolves, it is critical that all of us, especially policymakers, understand its implications to the creative community and the public that enjoys their creativities, and ensure that innovation does NOT come at the expense of human ingenuity and fair compensation for creators. That’s why, we at the Copyright Alliance were thrilled to join the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, News/Media Alliance, NMPA, and NSAI for The Story Starts with Us, to discuss some of the most critical issues faced today when it comes to generative AI and how to protect the rights of creators,” said Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid.
Program
Every presentation was a program highlight, with featured remarks from Ed Newton-Rex, CEO, Fairly Trained, and a panel of gifted authors including Jonathan Taplin, Author | Film Producer | Director Emeritus, Annenberg Innovation Lab, USC; Steven Overly, Host, POLITICO Tech; Jenn Schott, Songwriter | Vice President of the Board, Nashville Songwriter Association International; and Alex Reisner, Freelance Journalist | Contributing Writer for The Atlantic.
The day featured the following panels:
- Innovation & Ethics: Making Generative AI Fair to Creators.
- Generative AI and Fair Use: What the Scholars Say.
- Licensing is a Win-Win: The Exciting AI Partnerships between Creators and Tech.
- Congress and its Extraordinary Constitutional Mandate for IP.
- Certifying Human Creativity in Songwriting.
- Livelihoods in Motion: Firsthand Accounts of Creators.
- The State of Litigation: Understanding the Dozens of Copyright Suits Against LLMs.
- Tech Innovation to Protect Creators Against AI Abuses.
Full panel descriptions as well as speaker bios can be found here.
Forum participants also heard from lawmakers who are united in believing that it serves America’s economic and national security interests to protect creators and their intellectual property when it comes to developments in generative AI.
In addition to Sen. Welch’s opening remarks, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN); Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28th); Rep. Ben Cline (VA-6th); Sen. Chris Coons (DE); Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM); and Sen. Adam Schiff (CA) addressed the attendees with prerecorded remarks. And Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-2nd), stopped by in the morning to offer remarks in person.
About AAP
AAP | The Association of American Publishers represents the leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy, advocating for outcomes that incentivize and protect works of authorship and the creative, intellectual, and financial investments that make them possible. As essential participants in local markets and the global economy, our members invest in and inspire the exchange of ideas, transforming the world we live in one word at a time.
Find us online at www.publishers.org or on Twitter and Instagram at @AmericanPublish.