Are AI reading companions fair to authors?

01What did the Authors Guild object to?

In a statement dated 23 December 2025 and updated 7 January 2026, the Authors Guild said it has "significant concerns" about Ask this Book. Its main points:

• No permission. The feature "was added without permission from publishers or authors", and the Guild said it was "looking into whether the feature ... might infringe authors' and publishers' rights".
• No opt-out. "So far there is no way for publishers or authors to opt their books out of the feature, though as of this writing the feature is not available for all ebooks."
• A new format. The Guild is concerned it "turns books into searchable, interactive products akin to enhanced ebooks or annotated editions", "a new format for which rights should be specifically negotiated".
• A licensing market. The Guild says licensing for "in-book chatbots and other interactive book experiences such as AI-enabled fan fiction" could bring authors new income, and that an unlicensed feature from the company that owns most of the ebook market "sets a dangerous precedent".
• Its position. Uses like Ask this Book "must be licensed and compensated", and Amazon "should move to a permissioned, paid model".

The Guild also said it appreciated Amazon's "willingness to share information and hear us out, as well as the tweaks it has made since launch".

02What did Amazon say?

According to the Guild's statement, Amazon told it that "The feature only uses content from the book as a prompt which is not retained or used to train the underlying AI model", and that it considers the feature "a natural language expansion of the search functionality that already exists in Kindle apps and for which no license is required." Amazon also argued that readers "have been asking these questions through internet searches for years" and that the feature "helps customers keep reading as opposed to coming out of the book".

The Guild disagreed, saying a chat feature that gives analysis and summaries may be "a derivate use, not a mere search function", and noting that the design "may suggest" retrieval augmented generation, uses of which "are typically licensed". Amazon's own feature page, updated 2 July 2026, still describes Ask this Book as available on the Kindle iOS app in the US.

03How do bring-your-own-book companions differ?

A bring-your-own-book (BYOB) companion does not sell or contain the book. Magic Bookmark, for example:

• says it "works alongside a physical book or audiobook you own, buy, or borrow and does not contain the book itself" (App Store), and lists "hardcover, paperback, audio book, ebook or library loan" on its website;
• links readers who need a copy to Tertulia and Bookshop.org (with affiliate codes in the links) and to Libby for library borrowing ("Free, with a library card");
• charges the reader per book (one Bookmark Credit per book after the free start); that payment goes to the app maker.

Its page for authors adds three things. It says it is "not a replacement for reading" and that its recaps "make very little sense to anyone who isn't" reading along. In answer to "Does it cost me anything?" it says "No. It works just like the bookmarks sold at a local bookstore: readers buy your book, and then pay for a bookmark." And in answer to "Can I have my books removed?" it says authors can email a removal request. It does not say whether it licenses content from publishers or pays authors.

Thus Far, a chapter-locked book club, takes a related approach: "For a copyrighted book, one tap confirms you own a copy. Thus Far does not sell or provide books."

What this settles: the reader has a copy, bought or borrowed, so the companion does not replace the book, and at least one maker offers removal on request. What it does not settle: the Guild's argument is about AI uses of a book's content in general (answers, summaries, chat), which it says fall "outside of the rights granted under most publishing contracts". Removal on request is an opt-out, not the opt-in, paid model the Guild asks for.

04What are the arguments on each side?

Supporters of AI reading companions argue:

• They help readers finish books they would otherwise abandon, and return to series after a long gap. Magic Bookmark's authors page puts it as wanting readers to "finish more books and to buy and read the next one too".
• They answer questions inside the reading experience instead of sending readers to wikis full of spoilers, which is Amazon's argument too.
• They can help readers who struggle to keep track of large casts or long gaps between sessions.

Critics argue:

• Recaps, answers and character chat are new uses of an author's work that should be licensed and paid, with an opt-in or at least an opt-out.
• AI output can misrepresent a book, and a character's AI voice is not the author's.
• A dominant store adding unlicensed features can set terms for everyone else.

Both lists are arguments made by each side, not findings of ours.

05What can you ask of any AI reading tool?

• Does it need you to have a copy of the book?
• Does it say where its knowledge of the book comes from?
• Can authors opt in, or at least opt out?
• Does it point you to bookstores and libraries?
• Does it label AI-written text clearly?

These questions are part of our AI reading companion checklist. The dates are on the timeline.