Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Thomson Reuters Wins AI Copyright Suit
In what has the potential to be a landmark decision, Thomson Reuters has won the first major AI copyright case in the U.S. The media and technology holding company filed suit against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup, in 2020, alleging that Ross reproduced documents from Westlaw, a legal research firm in its holdings. In a summary judgment, US District Court of Delaware judge Stephanos Bibas found in Thomson Reuters’ favor, stating that, “None of Ross’s possible defenses holds water. I reject them all.” Ouch.
Here’s what publishing will be paying most attention to: key to the ruling is Bibas’s determination that Ross Intelligence’s use of copyrighted material fell outside the protections of the fair use doctrine. This doesn’t bode well for other AI companies facing similar suits, as fair use is a linchpin of their defenses for things like, oh, you know, using copyrighted material from 183,000 books to train large language models. This is an encouraging result, but don’t pop your bottles just yet. We are still in the early days of what is certain to be a years-long process, this ruling will almost certainly be appealed, the law remains years behind AI’s development, and the current administration seems pretty friendly to tech’s “move fast and break things” approach. One to watch, for sure.
Spotify Launches Mental Health Fiction Awards
Spotify has launched a new program to support fiction that explores mental health. Created in partnership with the Jed Foundation and the Black List, the Spotify x JED Impact Awards will grant five authors of unpublished manuscripts featuring mental health stories $10,000 each. The program is accepting submissions through July 8 and will announce the winners on World Mental Health Day, October 10. In addition to the prize money, winners will receive individual consulting with the Jed Foundation. Up to 140 contest participants will also receive free hosting and evaluation from the Black List and access to the Jed Foundation’s resource hub containing guides for writing stories about mental health and support for writers seeking to maintain their own wellbeing.
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YA Authors with Adult Debuts in 2025
It’s always fun to see an author you love flex a new muscle. Kelly Jensen rounds up an exciting collection of YA authors making their adult fiction debuts this year, including Stephanie Garber, Marie Lu, Sonora Reyes, and many more.