Mediahuis joins the SPUR Coalition as founding member
The SPUR Coalition is pleased to welcome Mediahuis as a founding member.
Mediahuis, one of Europe’s leading news publishers, will join 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 founder 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.
SPUR has attracted significant interest from journalism-based media companies globally and will make further announcements about its membership in the coming weeks. Publishers whose primary activity is the creation of original journalism are encouraged to get in touch to learn more, via info@spurcoalition.org.
Notes to editors
About the SPUR Coalition: The SPUR Coalition (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights) is a non-profit coalition of news publishers established to shape the technical and commercial environment within which IP owners can control and monitor the use of their content by generative AI applications. Founding members are the BBC, Financial Times, Guardian Media Group, Mediahuis, Sky News and Telegraph Media Group. The coalition is funded by its members.
About Mediahuis: Mediahuis is one of the leading media groups in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As a publisher, Mediahuis has an unwavering belief in independent journalism and in strong, relevant media that make a positive contribution to people and society. Since its foundation in 2013, Mediahuis has built a highly diversified portfolio of national and regional news brands, reaching more than 10 million readers every day, both digitally and in print.
Media enquiries:
SPUR Coalition: media.enquiries@spurcoalition.org
Mediahuis: an.steylemans@mediahuis.be