Copyright law was not built for the AI era; we need "learnright"

Authors including Thomas W. Malone and Frank Pasquale propose adding a seventh exclusive right, "learnright," to copyright law, requiring AI companies to obtain permission before training and pay market-based fees to compensate creators. Supporting mechanisms include mandatory audits of training data sources, whistleblower rewards, and penalties exceeding license fees; ASCAP-style clearinghouses or intermediaries such as ProRata.AI and Tollbit could handle licensing. The authors state that as of March 2026 there have been 87 copyright lawsuits against AI companies in the US, and some legal scholars still question whether collective licensing is too cumbersome.