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Our advocacy work supports authors’ rights and their ability to earn a living in the changing publishing landscape. Here’s where we stand on copyright, free speech, piracy, and other issues central to professional authors today.

“Controlled Digital Lending” or “CDL” is a recently invented legal theory that allows libraries to justify the scanning (or obtaining of scans) of print books and e-lending those digital copies to users without obtaining authorization from the copyright owners.

Effective copyright protection is the linchpin of professional authorship: it enables authors to make a living writing. The Authors Guild is dedicated to ensuring this remains possible in the twenty-first century. But we also recognize that copyright is not absolute.

In the interest of bolstering the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of expression, the Authors Guild opposes censorship and lends its support to legislation protecting free speech, most recently by urging Congress to pass a federal reporter’s shield law.

Our new advocacy campaign aims to restore balance to the author-publisher relationship and help authors achieve a fair return for their contributions to the joint venture of book publication.

The Authors Guild has been working with legislators and private companies for years to develop a more comprehensive solution to Internet piracy. We advocate a balanced approach that protects the creative marketplace without standing in the way of digital innovation.

A twenty-first century Copyright Office is central to a properly functioning copyright law. The Copyright Office has been providing important, effective services to authors with the resources it has, but its infrastructure, funding, and status within the U.S. government are relics of the analog era.

Writing is both a craft and a business. Here you’ll find news and analysis about the state of the publishing industry, as well as updates about what we’re doing to ensure that writing remains a viable profession in a period of great challenges for working authors.

From time to time we’ve opposed Amazon’s more ruthless tactics, not because we’re anti-Amazon, but because we believe the company has threatened the publishing ecosystem in ways that jeopardize both our individual livelihoods and the future of authorship itself.

We’ve received final approval of our class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of thousands of freelance writers who had been paid by major newspapers and magazines for one-time use of their articles, only to see their work swept into electronic databases without further compensation.