Dutch Publishers Launch Bookpact.ai to License Books to AI Companies

A coalition of Dutch publishers has built its own AI licensing platform instead of waiting for AI companies to ask permission. Publishers VBK, WPG, Lannoo, and Maven, together with book distributor CB, launched Bookpact.ai on June 23, according to the International Publishers Association, Emerce, and Jane Friedman. The platform lets rightsholders decide, book by book, whether and how AI companies can use their work, and what they get paid for it.

How the opt-in model works

Bookpact.ai does not hand AI companies blanket access to a publisher's catalog. Instead, consent is given per title, per AI company, per type of use, and for a set period of time. The platform separates out different ways AI systems might use a book, including training, summarization, translation, and quotation, so a publisher can license one use without automatically licensing all of them. According to the reporting, the system is built to align with the EU's Digital Single Market Directive, giving European publishers a framework that fits existing copyright rules rather than working around them.

The goal, as described by the founding publishers, is straightforward: books are already being used at scale to train AI models, often without permission or payment. Bookpact.ai gives publishers documented consent, clear license terms, and a record of compensation instead of leaving that decision to whoever scrapes the text first.

Why this matters if you write with AI

Most of the AI stories making the rounds in publishing this year have been about catching AI use, not licensing it. Bookpact.ai is a sign that part of the industry is moving past the "is this allowed" argument and into "here are the terms." That shift matters for any author, traditionally published or self-published, because the terms publishers and platforms set now will shape what AI companies expect to pay for source material later, and what counts as fair use versus a paid license.

It also raises a question worth asking about your own backlist or works in progress: do you know whether your publisher, distributor, or platform has any agreement covering AI training on your work, and would you see a cut if they did? If you self-publish, that decision currently sits entirely with you. Our guide on AI writing ethics for authors covers the disclosure and rights questions worth settling before you publish, and is it legal to sell a book written by AI walks through the copyright basics that licensing platforms like this one are trying to formalize.

PageWriter Studio keeps every draft and outline in your own account, so the rights to what you write with it stay clearly yours from the first page. If you want to start a book on terms you actually control, you can start a free trial today.