May 10, 2024
Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa Headlines AAP’s Annual Meeting
Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, and Freedom of Expression are Front and Center for Publishers
On May 9, 2024, the Association of American Publishers hosted its 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM), a virtual program that focused on the industry’s most pressing policy issues—artificial intelligence, copyright, and freedom of expression.
Keynote Address
The meeting’s keynote was Maria Ressa, a courageous investigative journalist who co-founded and leads the online news company Rappler. Ms. Ressa joined the meeting from Rome, where she had just arrived for AI meetings with the Vatican. Earlier in the day, Cannes Lions in France announced that Ms. Ressa is the 2024 recipient of the Cannes LionHeart Award, given to “a person who has harnessed their position to make a significant and positive difference to the world around us.”
In 2021, Ms. Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her fearless work in exposing the dangerous corruption of the Duterte regime in the Philippines. In awarding the Prize jointly to her and Russian reporter Dmitri Muratov, the committee highlighted their work to “safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition of democracy and lasting peace.” In 2020, she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Women of the Century, and in 2018 she was named its Person of the Year.
During her address, Ms. Ressa shared her research and observations about AI policy, as well as tech policy more generally, focusing on the survival of facts and truth. “Lies spread faster than facts,” she said, but “inspiration spreads as fast as anger.” She spoke about journalism as “an antidote to tyranny,” noting that “you cannot have rule of law if you do not have integrity of facts.”
As she explained, a strong action plan should, among other things, “stop surveillance for profit” and “stop coded bias.” In closing, she spoke to the immersive nature of books. “Books are so important,” she said. They’re about “standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Leadership Reports
At the top of the meeting, AAP’s Board Chair YS Chi and President and CEO Maria Pallante delivered back-to-back leadership reports.
“[A] major threat to our industry is the encroachment of freedom of expression,” commented Mr. Chi. “We know that with the privilege of living in a democracy comes with the enormous responsibility of protecting those rights, so that our society can continue to serve as a beacon of freedom and creativity.
“I am deeply troubled by government efforts to restrict reading and politicize science. But I am also hopeful that by convening crucial conversations like the ones we will witness today and continuing to foster collaboration and vigilance in the publishing industry, we will be able to triumph in the name of our ideals.”
Focusing on the commercial exploitation of Generative AI by Big Tech, Ms. Pallante said, “Here in Washington, we have never been more aware that technology moves quickly, while law and policy move slowly, as we have never experienced such an enormous gap between law and power. Not even in the days of the Robber Barons.
“It should come as no surprise that there are 24 AI copyright suits pending in the United States,” she said. “Still, there is no silver bullet for regulating AI. The goal—to encourage tremendous promise while preventing tremendous harm—presents a Gordian Knot that will remain challenging for even the most skilled policy makers in the world.
“To protect society, we will need a forward-thinking scheme of legal rules and enforcement authority across numerous jurisdictions and disciplines, not only intellectual property, but also national security, trade, privacy, consumer protection, and human rights, to name a few. And it will require ethical conduct.”
Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Shelley Husband highlighted some of AAP’s legislative and regulatory priorities across all sectors. She reported on various measures, both state bills and federal regulatory activities, that would depress the market value of published works at the expense of publishers and authors, undermining IP rights in vulnerable digital formats, as well as the future investments of publishers in literature and high-quality course materials, and trusted scholarly content.
General Counsel Terry Hart reported on a range of litigation the AAP has won or is engaged in, from the mass infringement of the Internet Archive to suits against Arkansas and Texas for unconstitutional restrictions on the freedoms to read, write, and publish.
Rounding out the presentations was technologist and entrepreneur Ed Newton-Rex, CEO of Fairly Trained, who spoke in conversation with Lui Simpson, AAP’s Executive Vice President of Global Policy. Fairly Trained certifies AI companies that ensure the rights of authors, artists, and publishers by seeking consent for copying and exploitation of their works.
“Generative AI is a self-reinforcing ecosystem where a couple of companies led the way with exploitative practices,” Mr. Newton-Rex said, “but not every company agrees. What I want to do is move the world towards licensing, especially because the alternative is an existential threat to the creative industries.” To date, Fairly Trained has certified 13 technology companies.
Distinguished Public Service Award
Always a highlight, AAP once again presented its Distinguished Public Service Award during the meeting, this year to Congressman Darrell Issa of California’s 48th Congressional District, who is Chairman of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee. The Award honors individuals who have made “outstanding contributions to the public good by advancing laws or policies that respect the value, creation and publication of original works of authorship.”
A champion of copyright throughout his career, Mr. Issa is a senior member of the bipartisan House Task Force on AI.
“[It] has been a pleasure to champion the publishing industry and the broader creative industries,” he said in his video acceptance. He also spoke of the challenges facing the industry, including the emergence of artificial intelligence, saying that “AI cannot be a means to weaken IP protections.”
Sponsorships
AAP thanks the event sponsors Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Industry Insights, Capitol Advisors Group, Bowker, Total Compensation Solutions, and Withum.
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 the publication of creative expression, professional content, and learning solutions. 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 publishers.org or on Twitter and Instagram at @AmericanPublish.