Turning the Page on AI: How The Magazine Coalition Aims to Protect and Profit Magazine Content

Michael Simon, former president of Publishers Press, is on a mission to ensure that magazine publishers are paid for their work in an era where AI companies are freely using content pulled from the web. His latest venture, The Magazine Coalition, brings together small and niche publishers to address past copyright violations and establish new licensing agreements with AI companies for future use.

Together with co-founder and CEO Gavin Gillis, Simon launched the Coalition to help publishers protect what he calls “ink-worthy” content, fact-checked, edited, and curated stories that hold more value than unverified digital noise. The Coalition was recently introduced at the Niche Media Conference in Las Vegas, where it was met with strong interest from over 375 magazine publishers and editors.

A Timely Mission for the Publishing Industry

AI models have been trained on vast amounts of web content, including professionally created material from magazines and journals. Often, this has happened without attribution or compensation. This undermines the traditional publishing model, where advertisers pay to appear alongside trusted editorial content that speaks to carefully defined audiences.

Simon sees this not as a binary choice between AI and publishing, but as a call for structure and fairness. “I do think the AI companies are responsible for copyright breach,” he says. “And I do think that they owe the publishing industry and the content creators compensation for what they’ve learned.”

Real-World Momentum

Major media outlets are already taking action. The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, arguing that its copyrighted work was used without permission to train language models. Meanwhile, organizations like The Associated Press and Axel Springer have negotiated licensing deals that compensate them for use of their archives and future content.

These developments demonstrate what is possible when publishers speak with a unified voice, and The Magazine Coalition wants to give small and mid-sized magazines the same opportunity.

What the Coalition Offers

By joining The Magazine Coalition, publishers gain:

  • A path to potential compensation for past AI use of their archives

  • Licensing opportunities for future content use

  • Legal representation and industry advocacy

  • Revenue-sharing arrangements that return 51% of net proceeds to participating publishers

Simon’s goal is to unite 1,000 magazines under the Coalition by the end of 2025. While he hopes for collaborative agreements with AI companies, he confirms the Coalition is prepared to pursue litigation, if necessary, backed by significant legal and financial support.

Why This Matters to All Publishers

High-quality content takes time, expertise, and money to produce. Publishers invest in editing, fact-checking, and peer review, none of which is free. Yet AI models can scrape and summarize that same content, then deliver it instantly and freely to users who may never visit the publisher’s site or see its advertisers.

This threatens the foundation of the current publishing business model. Simon argues it is time to stop treating AI companies like content shoplifters and start treating them like content shoppers.

Practical Steps for Protection and Progress

In addition to joining the Coalition, publishers can begin taking immediate action:

  • Use tools like robots.txt files and metadata tags to block unauthorized scraping

  • Explore digital watermarking and provenance standards (such as C2PA) to signal ownership and originality

  • Place premium content behind paywalls or member-only access to reduce exposure

  • Offer sponsorship packages and localized editorial experiences that AI cannot replicate or summarize out of context

  • Educate readers and advertisers about the value of human-curated, verified content

The Magazine Coalition also offers a way to turn AI into a collaborative partner, not just a threat. By licensing content properly, AI tools can continue to learn from quality sources, while publishers receive the recognition and compensation they deserve.

Looking Ahead

Simon envisions a future where the Coalition is a leading voice in setting fair standards for AI content use. "By this time next year, I hope we’ll have some licensing deals in place and at least one or two cases moving forward, if necessary," he says. "But I’d much prefer to see this resolved through partnership."

To learn more or join the effort, visit magazinecoalition.com.

At Progress Printing Plus, we remain committed to supporting the power of print and the people who create it in a changing media landscape.

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