AI Wants Your Book. Trip Adler Says It Should Pay.

Oct 17, 2025

Trip Adler, co-founder of Scribd and CEO of Created by Humans, dives into the evolving landscape of AI and copyright. He discusses his mission to help authors get paid for their work used by AI, emphasizing the need for distinct "AI rights." Trip introduces his "Fourth Law of Robotics" aimed at protecting creators. He reflects on the significant Anthropic case and outlines how books could become a major revenue stream as authors license their content. Insightful, thought-provoking, and crucial for writers navigating the AI age!

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INSIGHT

Scribd Experience Sparked New Rights Model

Trip Adler started Scribd and used that experience to see how AI collides with publishing and authors' rights.
He founded Created by Humans to build a legal and business model connecting books to AI while protecting creators.

ADVICE

Bundle Clear Rights To Simplify Licensing

Clear AI rights across authors and publishers to create an easy, bundled license that AI companies can buy.
Make licensing simple to encourage lawful access while giving creators control and compensation.

INSIGHT

Three Distinct AI Rights For Books

Created by Humans defines three separate AI rights: training, reference (RAG), and transformative rights.
Treating these as distinct categories clarifies licensing and negotiation for different AI uses of books.

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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

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