AI and Publishing: FAQ for Writers

Friedman, J. (2026, March 24).

Jane Friedman.

If you primarily learn about generative AI and large language models from social media, or from the opinions of the average author, then it’s likely you are misinformed about it. Even agents and editors often misinform the larger community about how AI works, including the law surrounding AI.

This FAQ is drawn from the reporting and analysis I’ve written and published over the last couple years. It is intended as a judgment-free zone: no opinions, no advocacy, just the clearest available statement of what the law and courts currently say about AI, primarily in the United States. I also discuss known use of AI by publishers, editors, agents, and others in the industry.

It covers these topics:

• AI and traditional book publishers
• Disclosure of AI use + AI detection
• Proving or certifying human authorship
• Copyrighting AI-assisted work
• AI training and fair use
• AI licensing

I will keep this guide updated as new cases, rulings, and policies come to light. If you have a question about the facts or the law surrounding AI, please leave a comment. Comments about AI and its ethicality or morality will be deleted; that is not the purpose of this resource.

The usual disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. Again, I must emphasize that laws and court rulings in this area are evolving rapidly.

I offer more personal guidance on AI issues here: Writers’ AI Fears Often Run Ahead of the Facts

The article is here.

Here is are a couple of thoughts:

As a psychologist and author, it is important to know that current U.S. copyright law protects human-authored work, but wholly AI-generated text is not copyrightable. Using AI for brainstorming, outlining, or light editing does not invalidate your copyright, but relying on it to draft core content means those specific passages lack legal protection. Major publishers increasingly require transparent disclosure of AI use, and while AI detection tools are imperfect, they are being actively adopted to flag heavily AI-assisted manuscripts. To protect your professional integrity and intellectual property, it is best to use AI strictly as a supplementary tool, rigorously verify any AI-assisted research or citations to avoid "hallucinations," and maintain clear documentation of your human writing process.

When negotiating publishing contracts, you retain the rights to your work, meaning publishers cannot legally license your book to train AI models without your explicit consent. The Authors Guild recommends negotiating for a 75–85% revenue split if such licensing occurs, and advises adding specific contract clauses that prohibit unauthorized AI training, AI-generated audiobook narration, or AI translations of your work. While the legal landscape around AI training on copyrighted works is still evolving through ongoing lawsuits, the current industry standard strongly favors author control. By proactively addressing AI use in your contracts and book acknowledgments, you can safeguard your professional legacy and ensure your work meets the ethical and academic standards expected in psychological publishing.

Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Guidelines for the Counseling Profession

Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., et al. (2016).

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and 

Development, 44(1), 28–48.

https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12035

Abstract

In 2014, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) appointed a committee to revise the Multicultural Counseling Competencies developed by Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis in 1992 and operationalized by Arredondo et al. in 1996. This article reflects the updated competencies, titled the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015a), which were endorsed by AMCD on June 29, 2015, and by the American Counseling Association on July 20, 2015. A conceptual framework of the MSJCC visually depicts the relationships among the competencies' key constructs: multicultural and social justice praxis, quadrants, domains, and competencies. Implications are discussed.

En 2014, la Asociación para la Consejería y el Desarrollo Multicultural (AMCD, en sus siglas en inglés) formó un comité para revisar las Competencias en Consejería Multicultural desarrolladas por Sue, Arredondo y McDavis en 1992 y operacionalizadas por Arredondo et al. en 1996. Este artículo refleja las competencias actualizadas, denominadas Competencias en Consejería Multicultural y de Justicia Social (MSJCC, en sus siglas en inglés; Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015a), que fueron avaladas por la AMCD el 29 de junio de 2015 y por la Asociación Americana de Consejería el 20 de julio de 2015. Un marco conceptual de las MSJCC muestra visualmente las relaciones entre los constructos principales de las competencias: la praxis multicultural y en justicia social, los cuadrantes, dominios y competencias. Se discuten las implicaciones.

A pdf can be downloaded here.

The MSJCC are organized around a conceptual framework that includes quadrants representing the privileged and marginalized statuses of counselors and clients, developmental domains (counselor self-awareness, client worldview, the counseling relationship, and counseling and advocacy interventions), and aspirational competencies sequenced as attitudes and beliefs, knowledge, skills, and action. The addition of action to the original AKS sequence emphasizes the importance of operationalizing competencies through concrete advocacy and intervention efforts. The MSJCC are intended to be developmental and lifelong, guiding counselors, educators, supervisors, and researchers in fostering culturally responsive practice and promoting social justice at individual, community, and systemic levels.

In short, the MSJCC offer a comprehensive, intersectional, and action-oriented framework to help counselors address the complex needs of culturally diverse clients and promote social justice within and beyond the counseling relationship.