Dozens of publishers have already got together in the SPUR initiative, striving for a fair and transparent, well-functioning, AI licensing market for trusted journalism.

The new SPUR Coalition (Standards for Publishers Usage Rights) has expanded with the recruitment of 30 new members from across the new media industry, and of WAN-Ifra as a strategic partner and affiliate member.

Chief executive Stig Ørskov said the intention is that publishers have a collective voice in discussions about content protection, transparency, licensing and fair value exchange, one of the greatest needs expressed during its Marseille

Congress.

“With the new member cohort announced today, SPUR brings together 36 publishers and affiliate organisations, and it is consolidating quickly into a coordinated international movement,” hje said. “There is a real first-mover advantage in helping define the standards rather than inheriting them.”

The European Publishers Council has also joined as an affiliate member, a group which includes Digital Content Next (DCN), the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), Independent Publishers Alliance, Newsworks, the News/Media Alliance NMA US, Independent Media Association (IMA), News Media Canada, the Hungarian Publishersʼ Association, Hebdos Québec, the PPA (Professional Publishers Association) and PPA Magnetic.

Among those joining as standard members are a cohort of leading Canadian media organisations, SIPA Ouest-France, Ringier, Citywire, Sanoma Media Finland, Der Standard, Bonnier News and FD Mediagroep. Joining as associate members are Times Higher Education, RNZ and AML Intelligence.

Anna Bateson, chief executive of founding member Guardian Media says the recruitment of 30 new members “gives SPUR the scale required to turn its mission into a global mandate.

“This collective strength will help legitimise the standards we create, safeguarding the intellectual property of publishers and providing AI developers with a route to scalable, sustainable licensing.”

SPUR has already made “significant progress” on its telemetry, the technical infrastructure that enables publishers to see, in real time, how AI systems are using their content. A telemetry standard, developed with SPUR members and technical partners, offers a framework for collaboration between content owners, AI platforms and intermediaries.

More information from WAN-Ifra membership director Kim Svendsen (kim.svendsen@wan-ifra.org).