# How publishers and education companies can sell data to AI companies

URL: https://sellmydatatoai.net/sell-your-data/publishers-and-education

Publishers and education companies can license back catalogs they hold the rights to, editorial records and assessment items to AI companies. Mercor's published listing puts publisher and education company payouts at $35,000 to $370,000 for firms with 10 to 500 staff. Check author contracts first, because an older contract may not give you AI licensing rights at all.

## Key takeaways

- AI buyers most want these records from publishers and education companies: (1) back catalog text where you hold the licensing rights, (2) edited manuscripts, reviewer reports and copyedit queries and (3) assessment items with scoring rubrics, model answers and scorer commentary.
- Published buyer range for publishers and education companies: $35,000 to $370,000 per company.
- Source: Mercor's published listing for publishers and education companies, recorded by ddiy.co, checked October 2026.
- Size buyers look for: 10 to 500 staff (Mercor).
- The first rights issue to clear: Author contracts may not grant AI training or sublicensing rights, and any transfer must be in a signed writing. This page covers 5 more.
- Sellers pay nothing to be assessed. We charge a success fee only when a deal completes, and the fee is agreed in writing before we introduce you to any buyer.

## At a glance

- Records buyers ask for: Back catalog text where you hold the licensing rights; Edited manuscripts, reviewer reports and copyedit queries; Assessment items with scoring rubrics, model answers and scorer commentary; Course materials, lesson plans and worked examples; Learner support tickets and tutor feedback, de-identified; Style guides and editorial procedures
- Why buyers want them: Buyers value text with clean rights and records of expert judgment, such as an editor's changes or a scorer's commentary. Assessment items with expected answers and scoring rules are already in the shape of an evaluation dataset.
- Published buyer range: $35,000 to $370,000 per company (Mercor's published listing for publishers and education companies, recorded by ddiy.co, checked October 2026)
- Size buyers look for: 10 to 500 staff (Mercor)
- Rights issues: Author contracts may not grant AI training or sublicensing rights, and any transfer must be in a signed writing; Freelance editors, illustrators and item writers own their work unless it is a work made for hire or assigned; FERPA: recipients of student records may not redisclose them without consent under 34 CFR 99.33; California's SOPIPA bars K-12 edtech operators from selling pupil information; Permissions for third-party images and extracts may be limited to one format or edition; UK and EU: CDPA section 11 and a 2026 UK government report that leaves AI licensing to contract

Publishing and education are the sectors where the AI copyright question is most public. On July 20, 2026 a US federal court in California granted final approval to the $1.5 billion Bartz v. Anthropic settlement over books used without permission, which the Authors Guild puts at about $3,000 per work. Licensed, rights-cleared text is the alternative.

## How much do AI companies pay for publishing and education data?

AI companies pay publishers and education companies $35,000 to $370,000 per company, according to Mercor's published listing for the sector, which covers firms with 10 to 500 staff. ddiy.co recorded the range from Mercor's referral page in October 2026.

That range sits below Mercor's listings for law firms ($50,000 to $1.2 million) and manufacturers ($100,000 to $1.5 million). Large publishers with major catalogs negotiate separately, and the reported agreements in our [AI data deals tracker](https://sellmydatatoai.net/ai-data-deals) show that end of the market.

## What publishing and education data do AI companies buy?

AI companies buy publishing and education data that is rights-cleared and shows expert work. A back catalog matters only where you hold the rights to license it for training.

| Record | What a buyer uses it for | Rights check |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Back catalog text | Training on edited, high-quality writing | Author contract grants AI licensing rights |
| Edited manuscripts and reviewer reports | How experts improve text | Author and reviewer agreement |
| Assessment items and scoring rubrics | Evaluation datasets with expected answers | Item ownership and test security |
| Course materials and worked examples | Domain teaching data | Third-party extracts and images |
| Learner support and tutor feedback | Feedback and tutoring behavior | Student records, often children's |

Assessment items fit a format buyers name directly. An [evaluation dataset](https://sellmydatatoai.net/buy-ai-training-data/evaluation-datasets) is a set of tasks with expected answers and scoring rules, which is what an item bank with scoring rubrics already is.

## Do you own the AI rights in your back catalog?

You own the AI rights in your back catalog only if your contracts give them to you. Under [17 U.S.C. section 201(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/201), copyright vests initially in the author, so a publisher's rights come from the author contract, and a contract granting print and ebook rights may say nothing about AI training.

Section 204(a) adds that a transfer of copyright is valid only in a writing signed by the owner. Commissioned work is different in some cases: the Copyright Office's Circular 30 lists instructional texts, tests, answer material for tests and contributions to collective works among the nine categories that can be works made for hire, if the parties expressly agree in a signed written instrument.

That makes freelance item writers and contributors a contract question. Where a signed work made for hire agreement or assignment exists, you hold the rights. Where it does not, they stay with the freelancer. Audit contracts title by title before you build a [data manifest](https://sellmydatatoai.net/guides/how-to-build-a-data-manifest), and leave out titles where the position is unclear.

## Can education companies license student and learner data?

Education companies should exclude student and learner data from any license. Under FERPA, schools disclose personally identifiable information from education records only on condition that the recipient will not pass it to any other party without consent, as [34 CFR 99.33](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-A/part-99/subpart-D/section-99.33) sets out.

The US Department of Education treats records as de-identified only once all personally identifiable information is removed, including information that alone or in combination is linkable to a specific student. State laws add more. California's Student Online Personal Information Protection Act, at Business and Professions Code section 22584(b)(3), bars operators of K-12 sites and apps from selling a pupil's information.

Younger learners raise COPPA too. The FTC's amended COPPA Rule, finalized in January 2025, requires covered operators to obtain separate verifiable parental consent before disclosing children's personal information to third parties.

> **License retired items, not live ones** Models can reproduce parts of their training data, as Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz warns. License retired assessment items, and keep live tests and reusable item banks out of any package.

## If you hold UK or EU data

UK catalogs follow [section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/11), which also makes the author the first owner. The UK government's report on copyright and AI, published on March 18, 2026, says a broad copyright exception with an opt-out is no longer its preferred way forward and proposes not to intervene in the AI licensing market for now, so UK licensing remains a matter of contract.

UK learner data is often children's data, so UK providers should take the same approach and leave it out.

## How do you sell publishing data through Sell My Data To AI?

We start with a consultation and a rights pre-check. Our eight-point vetting standard covers ownership and chain of title, contract restrictions and third-party content, the checks that matter most for a back catalog.

Buyers see redacted samples under a mutual NDA, and you approve every buyer and every license term. Read the guide to [exclusive and non-exclusive licenses](https://sellmydatatoai.net/guides/exclusive-vs-non-exclusive-data-licenses), or [book a consultation](https://sellmydatatoai.net/book-a-consultation?side=seller).

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Mercor pay publishers for data?

Mercor's published listing puts publisher and education company payouts at $35,000 to $370,000 per company, for firms with 10 to 500 staff. ddiy.co recorded the range from Mercor's referral page in October 2026. Where you land depends on rights clarity, volume and how much expert editorial material you hold.

### Can we license books whose contracts do not mention AI?

If an author contract does not grant you the right to license text for AI training, assume you do not have it. Copyright starts with the author, and a publisher holds only the rights the contract transfers, which under US law must be in a signed writing. You can ask authors for a written amendment, often with a share of the fee, and should take independent legal advice.

### What did the Anthropic settlement decide?

The Bartz v. Anthropic settlement resolved authors' copyright claims over books used to train AI models. A US federal court granted final approval on July 20, 2026 for $1.5 billion, which the Authors Guild puts at about $3,000 per work. It is a settlement, so it does not set a legal rule on training.

### Can an edtech company sell student data?

An edtech company should not sell student personal data. FERPA's redisclosure rule bars recipients of education records from passing them on without consent, and California's SOPIPA bars K-12 operators from selling a pupil's information. Teaching materials, retired assessment items and fully de-identified feedback are the licensable assets.

## Sources

- [How to sell company data to AI companies (2026 guide)](https://ddiy.co/sell-company-data-to-ai/), ddiy.co, accessed November 2026
- [Court grants final approval of $1.5 billion Anthropic copyright settlement](https://authorsguild.org/news/court-grants-final-approval-anthropic-copyright-settlement/), The Authors Guild, accessed November 2026
- [17 U.S. Code section 201: ownership of copyright](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/201), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed November 2026
- [17 U.S. Code section 204: execution of transfers of copyright ownership](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/204), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed November 2026
- [Works made for hire (Circular 30)](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ30.pdf), US Copyright Office, accessed November 2026
- [34 CFR 99.33: limitations on the redisclosure of information](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-A/part-99/subpart-D/section-99.33), eCFR (US Government), accessed November 2026
- [What constitutes de-identified records and information?](https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/faq/what-constitutes-de-identified-records-and-information), US Department of Education, accessed November 2026
- [California Business and Professions Code section 22584 (Student Online Personal Information Protection Act)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=22584.&lawCode=BPC), California Legislative Information, accessed November 2026
- [FTC finalizes changes to children's privacy rule limiting companies' ability to monetize kids' data](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-finalizes-changes-childrens-privacy-rule-limiting-companies-ability-monetize-kids-data), Federal Trade Commission, accessed November 2026
- [Selling company data for AI training: what to know before you say yes](https://technologylaw.fkks.com/post/102o455/selling-company-data-for-ai-training-what-to-know-before-you-say-yes), Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz (Daniel Goldberg), accessed November 2026
- [Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11: first ownership of copyright](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/11), legislation.gov.uk, accessed November 2026
- [Report on copyright and artificial intelligence](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-and-impact-assessment-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence/report-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence), GOV.UK (DSIT and IPO), accessed November 2026

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