German media giant Axel Springer maintains steady lobbying efforts over AI and news content copyright, as legal disputes and business expansion shape its strategic moves in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Axel Springer has kept its Washington lobbying machine running at a steady pace, even as the substance of its public disclosures has become less specific. The German media group, which owns Politico and Business Insider, reported $110,000 in in-house lobbying spend for the first quarter of 2026, unchanged from the same period a year earlier and in line with the third and fourth quarters of 2025. The filing was one of three lodged for the quarter on the company’s behalf, alongside submissions from Marla Grossman LLC and ACG Advocacy LLC, both of which identified copyright as their lobbying subject.
The latest in-house disclosure, filed by Amelia Binder, did not spell out any issues or legislative targets. That is a marked shift from earlier filings, which had tied the company’s lobbying more directly to artificial intelligence and copyright, including the question of fair payment for journalistic content and, in some quarters, advertising deductibility. The two outside-firm filings for the same period were also brief, referring only to copyright issues. Together, the disclosures suggest a consistent policy push, but one that has become more carefully worded.
That broader effort sits squarely within a fast-moving fight over how AI firms use news content. Reuters reported in September 2025 that Meta was in talks with Axel Springer, Fox Corp and News Corp over licensing arrangements for AI products, underlining the commercial pressure to secure permission for journalistic material. Wired reported earlier that Axel Springer had already struck a deal with OpenAI allowing articles from Business Insider and Politico to be used in its products, a sign that the company has been willing to pursue direct licensing as well as lobbying.
At the same time, the legal and policy backdrop remains unsettled. Best Law Firms reported in February 2025 that 14 major publishers, including Axel Springer companies, sued the AI developer Cohere over alleged copyright infringement. Poynter said in January 2026 that publishers have been pressing for statutory licensing rules that would force AI companies to pay for news content, even as the wider framework remains unresolved. Axel Springer’s lobbying record, now amounting to more than $801,000 in in-house spend since mid-2024, suggests the company expects that debate to continue, just as it pursues broader business expansion, including Axios’s March 2026 report that it had agreed to buy The Telegraph for about £575 million. Status News also reported in December 2025 that Business Insider cut 21% of its workforce during a year in which revenue targets were missed, while Politico has separately undergone restructuring and buyouts.
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Source: Noah Wire Services