Authors Guild facts for kids
 |
|
| Formation | 1912 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | 501(c)(6) organization |
| Purpose | Advocacy |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
|
Membership
|
9,000 |
|
Council President
|
Ralph Eubanks |
|
Foundation President
|
Marie Arana |
|
Key people
|
Mary Rasenberger, CEO Maya Shanbhag Lang, President |
| Affiliations | IFJ |
|
Formerly called
|
Authors League of America |
The Authors Guild is the oldest and largest group for writers in the United States. It helps protect writers' rights, especially their freedom to express ideas and their copyrights. Copyrights are like special rules that say who owns a creative work, like a book.
The Guild started in 1912 as the Authors League of America. Many famous writers have been part of its leadership. These include winners of big awards like the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award.
Today, over 9,000 writers are members. They get free legal advice and help with contracts from publishers. They also get help with things like insurance and getting paid for their work.
The Authors Guild works to change laws at the national and state levels. They fight against censorship, which is when someone tries to stop ideas from being shared. They also work on tax issues for writers. The Guild has been involved in many important lawsuits to protect authors' copyrights. For example, they sued Google because it scanned millions of books without permission. The Guild lost this case on appeal.
The Authors Guild has also spoken out against big publishing companies merging. They believe this can hurt writers. They have also pushed publishers to pay writers more for e-books.
Contents
How the Authors Guild Started
The Authors League of America began in New York City in 1912. Its main goal was to "protect the rights of all authors." This included writers of books, plays, art, and music. They also wanted to give advice and help to these authors.
In 1921, a group called the Dramatists Guild of America formed. This new group focused on writers for the stage and, later, for radio.
Many well-known writers have led the Authors Guild over the years. These include novelists like Pearl S. Buck and Madeleine L'Engle. Biographers like Robert Caro and children's book author Mary Pope Osborne have also been leaders. In 2014, Roxana Robinson became president. In 2023, Maya Shanbhag Lang was elected president.
The Guild has also criticized "controlled digital lending." This is a way libraries lend digital books, which the Guild believes can sometimes harm authors.
Important Legal Cases
The Authors Guild has been involved in several major legal battles. These cases often focus on protecting writers' rights and copyrights.
Freelancers' Rights
In 2000, the Authors Guild joined with other writer groups and 21 freelance writers to file a lawsuit. Freelance writers are people who write for different companies without being full-time employees. This lawsuit claimed that large online databases, like Lexis-Nexis, used writers' work without permission.
The writers' articles had first appeared in newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times. Then, these articles were sold to databases without the writers' approval. Publishers argued that putting the articles in databases was just a "revision" of the original work.
However, in 2001, the United States Supreme Court decided that writers must be paid for their digital rights. After more legal talks, an $18-million agreement was reached in 2014. This agreement paid freelance writers up to $1,500 for each article that was used without permission. The exact amount depended on if and when the article was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
The Google Books Case
On September 20, 2005, the Authors Guild sued Google. This lawsuit was about Google's Book Search project. The Guild said that Google was breaking copyright laws by making digital copies of books that were still protected by copyright. Google argued that their use was "fair use" under US copyright law. Fair use means you can use copyrighted material in certain ways without permission, like for teaching or news reporting.
In 2008, the Authors Guild, a group of publishers, and Google announced they had reached an agreement. Google agreed to pay $125 million, with $45 million going to authors whose books were scanned without permission. This agreement would have allowed Google to continue its scanning project. It also would have created a new group called the Book Rights Registry to manage payments to authors.
However, a judge rejected this agreement in 2011. The judge felt it was not the best deal for authors. In 2015, a higher court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, sided with Google. They said Google's scanning and showing small parts of books was fair use. They believed it did not harm authors.
In late 2015, the Authors Guild asked the Supreme Court to review the case. But in April 2016, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case. This meant the lower court's decision, favoring Google, remained in place.
The HathiTrust Case
From 2012 to 2015, the Authors Guild was involved in another legal case. This one was about HathiTrust, a service similar to Google Books. HathiTrust also allowed people to search scanned copyrighted books and see small parts of them. Like in the Google Books case, the court found that HathiTrust's actions were fair use. The case was then closed.
Grants Lawsuit
In May 2025, the Authors Guild filed a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). They also sued officials from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The lawsuit claimed that these groups illegally stopped $175 million in grants that Congress had promised. The Guild said this action was "utterly unexpected and unprecedented" and against the law. They argued it broke the Administrative Procedure Act, which sets rules for how government agencies must act.
See also
- Books in the United States
