Authors should not rely on a general copyright grant or a publisher’s website policy to decide how a manuscript may be used with artificial intelligence (AI). The contract should separately address AI training, AI-generated outputs, retrieval-based summaries, internal tools, consumer AI uploads, editing, translations, narration, artwork, sublicensing, payment, and the author’s own use of AI. Any permission should be specific, limited, paid or accounted for, and subject to safeguards. The Authors Guild clauses cited here are negotiation models, not settled law or terms every publisher accepts. A publishing lawyer should review the wording of a specific agreement.
Start with the rights grant, not a standalone AI sentence
An AI paragraph can be defeated by broader language elsewhere in the agreement. Read the entire grant of rights together with provisions covering “all rights,” data mining, research, internal use, sublicensing, adaptations, electronic formats, and miscellaneous technology rights. If the agreement transfers copyright ownership or grants very broad rights, expressly reserve the AI uses you do not want to transfer.
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The Authors Guild’s model materials recommend stating that the author keeps rights to use the work for generative-AI training and AI outputs unless a use is expressly granted. The model also includes an exception for ordinary internal operations. That exception may be useful, but its scope should match the deal you are actually making.
“For avoidance of doubt, except as expressly provided for in this Agreement, Author reserves the rights, and Publisher acquires no rights to, reproduce, distribute and/or otherwise use or create derivative works of the Work, or to sublicense any of the foregoing, for purposes of training generative artificial intelligence technologies (AI) or for use in any AI outputs; provided that Publisher may use the Work without the Author’s consent or approval in connection with internal AI-powered tools and technologies utilized in the normal course of Publisher’s internal operations (including but not limited to improving the marketing, advertising, and searchability of the Work).”
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This is proposed Authors Guild language, available in its AI-related model publishing contract clauses. It is a starting point for negotiation, not a universal industry rule.
Define each AI use instead of granting an open-ended category
“AI rights” can describe materially different activities. A contract should identify what the publisher may do, with which version or format of the work, for how long, in which territories, and through which licensees.
| Use category | Questions the contract should answer | Protection to seek |
|---|---|---|
| Model training | May the manuscript, excerpts, metadata, or audiobook transcript be used to train a generative model? May a vendor or licensee do so? | Express permission or express reservation; a ban on onward training if permission is not granted. |
| AI outputs | May the work be reproduced in generated answers, stories, summaries, or other outputs? Are outputs limited to factual retrieval or allowed to reproduce expressive passages? | Define permitted output types, attribution, excerpts, and approval requirements. |
| Retrieval-augmented tools | May a system index the book to answer user questions without training a general model? Is the tool public or internal? | Identify the product, audience, term, territory, and safeguards against copying or model training. |
| Internal tools | Can staff use AI for search, marketing, advertising, sales forecasting, or other operations? Can contractors access the material? | Name permitted purposes and require confidentiality, access controls, deletion, and no-training settings. |
| Adaptations and formats | Can AI create a translation, audiobook narration, voice replica, cover, interior art, synopsis, or interactive “chat with the book” product? | Treat each as a separate right with approval, human review, credit, and compensation where appropriate. |
| Sublicensing | Can the publisher license AI rights to a platform, model developer, distributor, or affiliate? | Specify eligible sublicensees, uses, reporting, audit information, duration, territory, and termination. |
The Authors Guild materials identify training, retrieval-based summaries or answers, and other interactive uses as distinct categories. They also prompt authors to consider the work and formats covered, sublicense structure, duration, territory, reporting, and approval. Those are drafting questions; the cited guidance does not establish one standard answer for every contract.
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Ask for written permission before any upload to a consumer-facing system. If you agree, the contract should identify the tool and purpose, prohibit use of the material for third-party training, limit access, require deletion or retention controls, and cover employees, freelancers, publicists, and other vendors.
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“Publisher shall not upload the Work or any of Author’s personal information to consumer-facing AI systems for purposes such as generating summaries, assessments, or marketing copy without written permission from the author or as otherwise agreed to hereunder; and when such permission is granted, it shall ensure that the manuscript is not used by third-party AI companies for training, such as by opting out of allowing training in user settings.”
This proposed clause appears in the Authors Guild’s statement and model clauses on consumer AI systems. Confirm who is responsible for checking settings and obtaining written assurances from vendors; otherwise a promise to “ensure” no training may be difficult to enforce.
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Editing can range from correcting a typo to restructuring chapters or changing a narrator’s voice. The contract should distinguish basic spelling and grammar checks from substantive edits, developmental editing, translation, paraphrase, and rewriting. State whether AI-assisted work requires your prior approval, disclosure, human review, and an opportunity to reject changes.
“Publisher agrees and warrants that it will not use AI to substantially edit a manuscript (excepting the use of basic spelling and grammar-checking applications).”
This is proposed Authors Guild language, not an industry-wide prohibition. If you need a more detailed rule, define “substantially edit,” identify approved tools, require a qualified human editor to review every change, and preserve your contractual approval rights over revisions.
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Handle translation, narration, artwork, and interactive products separately
A clause about text-model training does not automatically settle creative formats. Negotiate each of these uses expressly:
- Translation: Specify whether an AI-generated translation is allowed, who edits it, whether you can approve the translator, and how translation royalties apply.
- Audiobook narration and voice replication: State whether a synthetic voice may be used, whether your voice or a performer’s voice may be cloned, who owns the recording, and whether a human narrator is required.
- Cover and interior art: Require express approval for AI-generated images, define disclosure and provenance records, and preserve the right to reject art that infringes another person’s work or conflicts with your instructions.
- Summaries and chat products: Define whether the publisher may create a public question-and-answer interface, what text it can display, how attribution works, and whether user conversations may become training data.
The Authors Guild’s publication guidance includes model language seeking express author approval before AI-generated cover or interior artwork, while allowing a human designer to use AI as a tool under conditions in the proposed clause. See its publication contract section for that approach.
Specify compensation, accounting, and sublicensing
If the publisher licenses an AI use, the agreement should say where the money goes. The Authors Guild notes that AI-license income would ordinarily be treated like other subsidiary-rights income and applied against an advance unless the contract says otherwise. You can instead negotiate direct payment, a separate royalty, or a higher advance that expressly accounts for the licensed right.
Do not assume an automatic market rate. The contract should identify the royalty base, deductions, currency, payment schedule, statements, audit rights, and treatment of lump-sum sublicense receipts. It should also say whether a license to train a model is paid differently from a license to operate a retrieval tool or produce an audiobook.
- Define “gross receipts” and permitted deductions.
- Require statements that identify each AI license, sublicensee, product, territory, and period.
- State whether advances are recoupable from AI income and whether that income is pooled with other subsidiary rights.
- Give the author notice of a proposed sublicense and, if negotiated, approval or a right to object.
- Require records sufficient to verify usage and payments.
Clarify whether contractors and licensees are covered
A publisher may not operate the AI system itself. Marketing agencies, audiobook producers, distributors, cloud vendors, and affiliates may handle files. State that the publisher remains responsible for their compliance, or require written contracts imposing the same restrictions. Identify whether “Publisher” includes subsidiaries, licensees, employees, agents, and contractors.
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Also address security and deletion: who may access the manuscript, whether inputs are encrypted or sandboxed, how long prompts and outputs are retained, and what happens when the agreement ends. The Authors Guild recommends sandboxing internal systems and preventing manuscripts or author information from becoming training inputs. Put those operational promises in the agreement rather than relying on an informal assurance.
Set notice, records, and remedies
A right is more useful when the contract explains how to detect and fix a breach. Consider requiring prompt notice of an unauthorized upload, model-training allegation, data incident, or vendor-policy change. The agreement can require the publisher to provide relevant records, stop the use, request deletion, notify affected parties, and reimburse or indemnify the author where appropriate. The exact remedy depends on the rest of the contract and applicable law, so have counsel draft it.
Decide whether a breach is grounds for injunctive relief, termination of the AI license, reversion of a subsidiary right, or a separate payment. Avoid vague promises such as “commercially reasonable safeguards” without identifying the minimum controls or the records that prove compliance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Address the author’s own use of AI
The contract should say whether you must disclose AI assistance, what uses are permitted, and whether you can submit generated text. The Authors Guild’s Model Trade Book Contract, section 7, states that an author is not required to use generative AI and includes proposed disclosure language plus a bracketed limit for AI-generated text. A bracketed percentage is sample drafting, not a universal threshold.
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Check the publisher’s originality and warranty provisions. If you use an AI tool for brainstorming, research organization, spelling, or translation, keep records of the tool and purpose and confirm that the resulting manuscript satisfies the contract’s originality promises. The Guild’s AI best-practices guidance advises authors to check publisher-specific rules.
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Read the publisher’s policy, but give the signed contract priority
Publisher policies can impose disclosure duties that are not obvious from the contract. For example, Elsevier’s official policy for books and commissioned content, stated as updated in July 2026, asks authors who use AI or AI-assisted tools during writing to disclose the use in a separate manuscript section. It says AI tools do not qualify as authors, authors remain responsible for the content, direct use of AI-agent output as manuscript text is not permitted, and AI-generated or altered images are restricted subject to specified research-method exceptions.
“Authors who use AI or AI-assisted tools during the writing process are asked to disclose their use in a separate section of the manuscript.”
Read the complete Elsevier generative-AI policy for books and commissioned content if it applies to your deal. It is an example of one publisher’s policy, not a rule for all publishers and not a replacement for negotiated contract language.
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When an agent or publisher offers alternative wording, compare the provisions on these seven dimensions:
- Covered rights and uses: training, generated outputs, retrieval summaries, internal tools, adaptations, and formats.
- Consent: whether permission is automatic, written, product-specific, or subject to approval.
- Data handling: upload restrictions, no-training settings, access controls, retention, deletion, and vendor obligations.
- Author duties: disclosure, originality warranties, prohibited generated text, and any requirement to use AI.
- Control of sublicenses: eligible licensees, term, territory, work and format, notice, and approval.
- Payment: receipts, accounting, advance treatment, deductions, statements, and audit rights.
- Enforcement: notice, records, cure period, deletion, termination, damages, and other remedies.
A clause that sounds protective may still permit a broad sublicense, indefinite retention, or unpaid use in a public product. Mark each use on the contract’s rights schedule and check that the operative grant, subsidiary-rights section, warranties, and policy addenda use consistent terms.
A practical negotiation sequence
- Inventory the work: list the manuscript, illustrations, photographs, audiobook, translations, appendices, metadata, and personal information that the publisher will receive.
- Mark your red lines: decide whether training, public chat tools, synthetic narration, AI artwork, consumer uploads, and substantive AI editing are prohibited or negotiable.
- Replace broad language: narrow “all technologies,” “data mining,” and “internal use” provisions by naming purposes, systems, people, formats, term, and territory.
- Add operational safeguards: require no-training settings, sandboxing, access limits, deletion, vendor flow-down terms, and records.
- Set the economics: specify how each licensed use is paid, reported, audited, and treated against an advance.
- Align author obligations: add disclosure rules that fit your actual workflow and confirm that no clause requires you to use generative AI.
- Get a specialist review: a qualified publishing-contract lawyer can reconcile the AI language with copyright, warranty, indemnity, subsidiary-rights, and termination provisions.
What a workable AI provision accomplishes
The objective is not simply to insert the word “AI.” A durable provision tells both parties which files may be used, for which purpose, by whom, in what product, for how long, under what safeguards, for what payment, and with what remedy if the limits are exceeded. Reserve anything not granted, negotiate each permitted use, and make the publisher’s operational promises measurable enough to enforce.
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