Wiley issues position statement on AI content “scraping”

Wiley has issued a statement on artificial intelligence (AI) scraping, stating that it champions “the value of intellectual property and the creators behind it”.

The publisher states: “As pioneers in knowledge creation and dissemination for over two centuries, we are committed to ensuring that authors’ works are respected and properly licensed in the evolving digital landscape. Collaboration between authors, scientific and scholarly societies, and AI developers ensures responsible use of AI to advance research and discovery while preserving the academic freedom that is essential to scholarly progress.

“We reaffirm this position. We believe in the transformative potential of AI to advance research and discovery. This progress must be built on a foundation of respect for intellectual property rights including agreed compensation and attribution for content creators. We stand firmly alongside our authors and publishing partners in calling for ethical and legal data sourcing practices within the AI industry and encourage industry-wide adoption of proper licensing practices as some AI developers have.

• AI developers and companies must obtain authorisation before using Wiley content for AI development, training, or implementation.
• Transparent attribution and data provenance are essential components of ethical AI development.
• As part of its commitment to responsible innovation, Wiley has developed licensing frameworks that offer flexible, fair terms tailored to different use cases and development needs.
• Wiley stands firmly alongside its authors and publishing partners in calling for ethical and legal data sourcing practices within the AI industry and encourages industry-wide adoption of proper licensing practices.

The statement continues: “To demonstrate our commitment to responsible innovation, we have developed licensing frameworks that offer flexible, fair terms tailored to different use cases and development needs.

“There have been numerous well-publicised agreements between AI developers and STM and trade publishers, including our own successful licensing agreements with AI developers who share our commitment to ethical content use. These clearly demonstrate that an AI licensing market exists and is functioning effectively.

“This licensing market also creates pathways to ground AI in authoritative content. This active collaboration with the AI community includes building expectations and standards into agreements for transparency, citation, attribution, and data provenance, to foster user trust in AI systems. Through partnerships with authors, publishing partners, researchers, and ethical AI developers, we can create a sustainable ecosystem that values both technological advancement and the uniquely human contributions of authors and researchers.”

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