Defining AI Rights: Training, Reference, Transformative

What if AI could read your book, learn from it, summarize it, and remix it, all with your permission and a paycheck? Trip Adler is working to make that possible.

Trip Adler co-founded Scribd, helped pioneer book subscriptions, and knows publishing inside and out. Now he’s back with a new mission: protect human creativity in the age of AI.

In this episode of The Media Copilot, Pete Pachal talks with Trip about his latest venture, Created by Humans, a licensing platform that helps AI companies access creative works legally, starting with books. 

They dive into:

• How AI companies are scraping content without permission

• What “AI rights” actually are and why creators need to define them now

• Why licensing for training, RAG (reference), and transformation should all be separate

• How Trip’s “Fourth Law of Robotics” could reset the power dynamic between human and machine

• What the $3,000-per-book Anthropic case tells us about future settlements

• And why this could be the next big revenue stream for authors and publishers

If you're a writer, publisher, AI builder, or just someone who wants creators to get credit and compensation in the AI era, this is the conversation to hear.

What You'll Learn

Books are emerging as the front line in the battle between human creativity and artificial intelligence and understanding why is key to navigating what comes next. You'll learn how AI rights differ from traditional copyright law and why that distinction matters for anyone working in publishing, media, or technology. It also explains what AI companies can and should be paying to use creative works and how those payments change depending on whether the content is being used for training, reference, or transformation. You will come away with a clearer understanding of why these categories are not interchangeable and why defining each one is essential. Most importantly, the conversation highlights why authors deserve transparency, control, and compensation when their work helps power an AI product.

GUEST:  Trip Adler

Co-Founder of Scribd

Founder of Created by Humans 
 🔗 createdbyhumans.ai | LinkedIn 

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025