Europe's biggest news publishers want regulators to stop Meta's new business terms before they take effect on October 30.
The European Publishers Council (EPC) sent its request to regulators in both the EU and the UK. The publishers fear the terms could allow Meta to copy content from their websites for use in AI products.
The worry is narrow and concrete. AI products depend on large amounts of text, and news sites are a ready supply of current, professionally edited writing. Publishers have little reason to welcome that copying happening by default, under terms the other side wrote.
The October 30 start date gives the request a deadline that a lawsuit would not have. It also sets the ask apart from a complaint about past behavior: the EPC is trying to head off the terms before they apply.
The EPC went to two regulators because the EU and the UK now run separate regimes, so action by one would not bind the other.