CLA announces development of Generative AI Training Licence
Innovative licensing solution set to transform AI training in Q3 2025
The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) is delighted to announce its ambitious plans to launch a groundbreaking Generative AI Training Licence, set to be available in the third quarter of 2025. This milestone initiative will provide a scalable collective licensing solution that ensures remuneration for publishers and authors – in particular those not in a position to negotiate direct licensing deals – and give AI developers of all sizes the legal certainty needed to use a broad range of content to innovate and train language models.
Addressing the growing need for AI training solutions
As generative AI (GAI) continues to advance rapidly, the demand for access to high-quality, content is growing rapidly. CLA’s new GAI Training Licence will address this critical need, offering a streamlined approach to licensing text-based published content for training GAI models.
Collective licensing has supported the creative industries and content users for over 40 years, and this new licence marks a critical next step in its evolution.
Designed to complement direct licensing deals, the CLA GAI Training Licence will provide organisations with an effective and efficient way to legally obtain the permission required to innovate and enhance their GAI models using high quality, curated content for training, fine-tuning and retrieval augmented generation (RAG).
Looking ahead to Q3 2025
For the initial launch, CLA is working with two of its member organisations, PLS (Publishers’ Licensing Services) and ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society), on the development of the Generative AI Training Licence, slated for launch in Q3 2025. This initiative represents a significant step forward in the intersection of UK copyright law and GAI innovation, and all three organisations are committed to ensuring its success.
Mat Pfleger, CEO of CLA, said:
“Training AI models on copyrighted content requires permission and compensation. CLA’s collective licence will further demonstrate that licensing is the answer and can provide a market-based solution that is efficient and effective. Our goal is to provide a clear, legal pathway for access to quality content. One that empowers innovators to develop transformative GAI technologies whilst respecting copyright and compensating rightsholders and creators where their works are used.”
About the Copyright Licensing Agency
CLA, a regulated not-for-profit organisation, licenses organisations to lawfully use, copy, and share text and image-based content owned by authors, publishers, and visual artists. Revenues are distributed to owners, ensuring fair compensation for rights holders and support for the UK’s creative economy.
About PLS
Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) has provided rights and licensing services to the publishing industry since 1981. A non-profit collective management organisation, owned and directed by the four main UK publishing trade associations, its primary role is to maximise the value of published content, enable its legitimate re-use, and protect copyright through effective collective licensing, permissions and rights management services.
PLS represents over 4,500 publishers and collected and distributed more than £48 million in 2024/25.
About ALCS
ALCS is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 125,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £700million to writers.