The SPUR Coalition is pleased to welcome Mediahuis as a founding member.

Mediahuis, one of Europe's leading news publishers, joins the existing founders, the BBC, Financial Times, Guardian Media Group, Sky News and Telegraph Media Group, in working to shape the rules, standards and infrastructure that enable publishers and AI platforms to do business on fair, transparent terms.

Gert Ysebaert, CEO of Mediahuis group, said:

“The SPUR Coalition addresses one of the key challenges facing our industry today: ensuring that quality journalism is used responsibly in the development of AI. Shared technical standards, licensing frameworks and reliable measurement tools are essential to secure a fair and transparent value exchange for our content. I believe this is a defining moment for European publishers as well, to join forces so that together we can actively shape how our journalism is used.”

The challenges SPUR was formed to address are global in nature and require a global response: the unlicensed use of journalistic content in AI models, the lack of transparency in how AI systems use publisher content, and the absence of common standards for permission and payment are eroding the value of the journalism sector. Mediahuis joining as a founding member reflects SPUR's ambition to operate as a truly international coalition in addressing these issues.

Since its launch in March 2026, the SPUR Coalition has progressed technical work to enable the granular tracking of content usage online, with the aim of establishing industry standards. In the coming months, the Coalition will continue developing approaches to reducing friction in licensing, identifying gaps in the technical tools needed to protect intellectual property, and ensuring that high-value journalistic content can be accessed through rights-cleared, accountable channels.