President Trump’s White House just issued a “National Policy Framework: Artificial Intelligence” for Congress to consider legislative actions related to various AI related issues.
Part III deals with the copyright controversies related to AI.
The White House tries to thread the needle by (1) stating its view that using copyrighted works to train AI models is a fair use but “acknowledg[ing] arguments to the contrary exist” [highlighted paragraph below in yellow]
(2) deferring to the courts the resolution of this legal issue on fair use (and advising Congress to do so the same) [highlighted paragraph below in yellow] AND
(3) asking Congress to consider facilitating negotiations of collectives licenses for use of such works without making any determination that such licensing is required [1st green paragraph].
(4) The White House also backs a federal law to address unauthorized use of digital replicas of people. [2d green paragraph]
I’m already on record that fair use and licensing are not mutually exclusive. In my written answers to Senator Klobuchar and a subcommittee to the Senate Judiciary Committee, I wrote:
Many of the positions taken by the White House above are similar to ones I have advanced in my writings, including on both fair use in AI training and the need for a federal digital replica right.
Here are the links and citations for my relevant writings:
- AI and the Origin of AI Training, 63 Hou. L. Rev. 104 (2025) (AI training with copyrighted works serves a highly transformative fair use purpose).
- AI and the Sound of Music, 134 Yale L.J. Forum 187 (2024) (“Instead of allowing states to address the problem of AI voice clones in a patchwork manner, with potentially inconsistent and overbroad approaches, Congress should enact sui generis federal legislation that provides a uniform approach and, crucially, a narrowly tailored scope of protection that balances competing interests, including for innovation and permissible uses consistent with the freedom of speech.”).
- Written Response to Senator Klobuchar, Aug. 5, 2025 (“Whatever the outcome of the ongoing copyright litigation brought by news media against AI companies, it is also important to bear in mind copyright law does not preclude voluntary measures undertaken by relevant parties. For example, while prevailing in its fair use defense with respect to Google caching search, image search, and Google Books, Google also established a partnership program, with paid licensing to news publishers, to feature their news in a Google News Showcase. Contrary to common fallacy, fair use and licensing are not mutually exclusive.”).
DOWNLOAD THE WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK ON AI: