Pay up, open up
German Börsenverein launches “Frankfurt Appeal” urging lawmakers to regulate AI training
Published: 11 October 2026 | Photo / Video: AI-generated, Magnific
Ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) has issued the “Frankfurt Appeal,” a petition calling on legislators to act on AI. It is addressed to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the German federal government. It argues that AI companies train their models on copyright-protected works without the consent of publishers and authors, use valuable products without paying for them, and have so far largely faced no consequences, even where they ignore rightsholders’ express reservations of rights.
The appeal asks lawmakers to create a legal framework for the development and use of AI with clear obligations and liability rules. Its demands:
Transparency obligations for AI companies, including disclosure of the specific training data used, down to the level of individual works
A licensing market with fair revenue models
Robust enforcement of European copyright law
The signatories include both small and large houses. Among the big names are Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, Holtzbrinck Buchverlage, Bonnier Media Deutschland, Bastei Lübbe, Droemer Knaur, Hanser, Rowohlt, Ullstein, Piper, S. Fischer, Suhrkamp, C.H.Beck and Carlsen. They stand alongside many independent publishers such as Guggolz Verlag, Luftschacht Verlag, Julia Eisele Verlag, Verlag Tasten & Typen and Windy Verlag. The international associations IPA, the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and STM have also signed.
The full appeal can be read and signed at boersenverein.de/frankfurt-appeal. Publishers wishing to join can email frankfurter-appell@boev.de.
