Association of American Literary Agents Endorses CLEAR Act Bill As An Important Step in AI Training Debate
NEW YORK, NY – March 3, 2026 – The Association of American Literary Agents (AALA), the nation’s top organization of literary representatives, today announces its endorsement of U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and John Curtis’s (R-Utah) proposed Copyright Labeling and Ethical AI Reporting (CLEAR) Act. The AALA commends the Senators’ efforts to introduce a structure to communicate uses of copyrighted works to stakeholders. The CLEAR Act would require organizations to disclose their use of copyrighted works to train generative models, and offers proposed requirements for notification, a database of this information, penalty structure, and retroactive application.
The AALA maintains an AI Special Committee dedicated to understanding AI technologies as they relate to the creation, protection and uses of literary works, as well as advocating for explicit consent, licensing mechanisms, and compensation for all AI training usage. The Committee has spent extensive time assisting agents and authors in navigating the massive Anthropic settlement, which resulted from expansive AI training on copyrighted works. AI Committee Chair Hannah Bowman says, “Moving forward, we encourage lawmakers to craft regulations that will compel companies to license works from creators in advance of such irreversible uses as AI training, to protect authors’ copyright and their right to control and benefit from any uses of their work to develop AI technologies.”
The AALA applauds Senators’ willingness to pursue serious legislative protection for creators’ work and livelihoods. The CLEAR Act encourages important public conversations about how to best protect and enforce copyright in an age of rapid technological evolution. AALA commended the Act’s requirement of notice, which would provide copyright holders with critical awareness of where and how their works are being used.
AALA President Regina Brooks says, “The CLEAR Act’s emphasis on disclosure is an important first step in affirming that copyright protections remain foundational, even as new technologies transform how content is created and distributed. Innovation thrives when it is built on transparency and accountability to copyright holders, including the many creators our members represent. We urge Senators to demonstrate continued leadership in protecting creators whose work fuels our nation’s cultural and economic vitality.”
ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LITERARY AGENTS (AALA)
Since its founding in 1991, the Association of American Literary Agents has been a leading force in furthering the interests of agents, authors and other rights holders. Through regular educational programming, community-building initiatives, and advocating for agents and authors alike, the volunteer-run organization is dedicated to helping our members maintain and broaden their professional skills in a fast-changing publishing environment. Recognizing the historically exclusive nature of publishing, the AALA is committed to engendering a more diverse, equitable, participatory and inclusive publishing community. Members of the AALA must agree to adhere to its widely respected Canon of Ethics, thus ensuring that our membership maintains the highest standards of ethics and integrity in dealings with and on behalf of our clients and our publishing colleagues. More at aalitagents.org.