AI & Property Rights

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines annually and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter from the June 2026 Sixth Annual Buyers Guide Issue print edition examines the property-rights tensions AI raises for publishers.

Feel free to contact Doug at doug@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

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In early May of this year, leaders from the North American magazine publishing industry met in Chicago for a day and a half of industry talk and “saw sharpening.” Publishers of notable magazines like Fast Company, Inc., and Farm Journal attended as did Heat Treat Today. Two main topics dominated the event: events and artificial intelligence (AI). Conspicuously absent from the discussion was any emphasis on digital publishing (see last month’s Publisher’s Page for more on the contraction of digital media growth).

The conversations about AI were interesting but non-conclusive. In a nutshell, no one, not even the publishing “experts”, had any idea where AI was headed and what impact it would have on the publishing industry. Doomsday and utopian speculations abounded side-by-side. Either could be right; no one knows.

Private Property and Permission to Use

There are real and unique issues with AI and the publishing industry. Imagine what would happen to your business if every time you produced a product, an unrelated third party would access all the details of your products and make them publicly known to whoever wants to know without getting approval from you. And, of course, you would get no compensation for all the information accessed and disseminated by this third party. All your engineering drawings, vendor lists and purchasing specs, your proprietary designs, and perspectives would all be laid bare for unfettered, uncompensated use by an unrelated third party. I’m guessing you would scream “foul” and would do what you could to protect your property from unauthorized use.

Fortunately, for many of you, your product details are not splashed openly in excruciating detail on your website. For publishers, however, websites are one of our main distribution channels (albeit secondary to our print editions). For publishers, editorial content is our product, and by and large, it is available for public consumption, but not to help others make money without prior permission.

The issue seems to be one of private property and the use of that property without prior permission. When a magazine publishes an article, it is the property of the magazine and cannot be legally reproduced in part or in its entirety without prior written approval from the publishing company. As it currently stands, those wishing to access the content can have free access to it (unless it’s behind a paywall or registration wall), but they must come to the publisher’s website, which is of financial benefit to the publisher. If the public can get access to the publisher’s content without coming to their website, the publisher loses the financial benefit of traffic to their website. This is a real and tangible financial loss and is the result of someone accessing the content without due compensation to the publisher.

It is a unique situation that publishers are facing…thankfully for you! AI companies might object by saying that they give attribution to the sources of their findings and are therefore allowed to use the content. Citations help, but providing a footnote to the source of an AI answer is similar to a pawn shop listing the location of where they stole an item — it’s still the use of private property without permission.

Anticipated Legal Action

It’s safe to say that legal action is inevitable. I fully anticipate that the publishing industry will do something to protect its product and its private property. Some will say that it is futile, like King Cnut the Great trying to hold back the tide. Could be, but it will be interesting to watch and see what effect AI will have on the publishing industry. As we’re watching that play out, Heat Treat Today will continue to do what we do — make people happier and help them make better decisions by keeping them well informed.