“I’ve been thinking a lot about the word ‘independence’ and the risk of deciding to be an entrepreneur. It takes grit, and it takes passion, and it takes resilience, but it also requires trust in the ecosystem around you. That trust is beginning to break, and that’s why we’re here.”
— Marc McCollum, CIO at Raptive
Raptive created Independents’ Day to give independent creators a collective voice against the rise of unchecked AI. We represent 5,200 of these incredible business owners, who together reach 191 million readers each month. As an individual creator, it’s very difficult to capture the attention of key decision makers. But together, we can have an impact.
On June 26th we brought six Raptive creators to Capitol Hill, where they met with lawmakers and shared their stories with a room full of congressional staff, media, and civil groups. We also launched The Raptive Report and delivered our open letter—with its 13,000+ signatures—calling on Congress to act to protect creators.
Independents’ Day briefing
Raptive CEO Michael Sanchez set the stage: while we champion AI innovation, we cannot let it steamroll content creators’ businesses. Raptive creators have produced 25 million copyrighted works, which Big Tech is using to train its AI systems without consent or compensation. It then uses AI-generated content to directly compete with creators through features like Google’s AI Overviews—effectively using their own work against them.
After showing the video above, Michael turned the mic over to the moderator, PBS Chairman Larry Irving, and six Raptive creators from across the country:
- Kimber Matherne, Easy Family Recipes
- Lindsay and Bjork Ostrom, Pinch of Yum
- Toni Lipsey, TL Yarn Crafts
- Darin Blue and Kevin Blue, Country Rebel
Larry asked the creators to share the story of how they started their businesses, how AI is poised to impact them, and what could happen if it remains unchecked. Here’s just some of what they had to say during the captivating discussion.
Creator origin stories
“[My husband] was like, you should start a website. And I kind of had this thought, like, Me? I could start a website? Do I have the expertise for it? Am I allowed to do that? Five years after I started, I ended up leaving my teaching job to do this full-time. This is what supports our family. We have two little girls at home, five and three, and we have a small team in the Twin Cities area. So this business also supports them.”
— Lindsay Ostrom
“As a military spouse, many of you are probably familiar with the fact that we have some really different challenges when it comes to having a career. So when my kids were very young, I remember during nap time being on my computer and coming across this article on the internet about how people were blogging and that could be a business. I just had this light bulb moment of, if I can take my passion and the things that I care about and the things that I’m doing in my community, and I can put that on a website? If it can be done, I’m going to do it.”
— Kimber Matherne
The fabric of the internet
“One of the most rewarding parts of being a small business owner and entrepreneur is some of these folks have been with us for 10-plus years. It’s scary to think that AI could jeopardize our entire company as a whole and, in turn, jeopardize the livelihoods of our team members.”
— Darin Blue
“We are truly the fabric of the internet. In this increasingly digital world, people are craving connection more and more. It does an injustice to take the communities that are built because somebody loves worming or somebody loves cooking or crochet or country music, and take the humanity out of it and then just regurgitate it.”
— Kimber Matherne
“Hearing stories of folks who use crochet to deal with mental and physical illness, to deal with grief, to deal with loss, to deal with life transitions—this is more than just yarn and passing the time.”
— Toni Lipsey
I’m not a formally trained chef, I’m just regular me, I’m just a Shoreview, Minnesota mom. But through the power of the internet, I’m able to reach millions of people every month and deliver content that’s not only useful and informational, but reaches people on a human level.
— Lindsay Ostrom
Imbalance of power
“We have been creating, we’ve been connecting with people, we’ve been giving people things that they’re looking for. Then you have big tech companies like Google who are aggregating that content and making it easy for people to find. That relationship up to this point has been very equitable. They’re able to do their thing and create their income, and we’re also able to do what we do and create an income. And it seems like there could be a very swift and large power imbalance that happens with the onset of AI.”
— Kimber Matherne
The dangers of unchecked AI
“A lot of these tech companies are looking to replace us with our own original content and repurpose it and not give attribution, not give any sort of monetization as a result of that.”
— Kevin Blue
“When it comes to search, the information that comes back, it’s just not accurate. And it undermines a lot of the trust that we’ve spent so much time building within our community. We really want to get the reins on this as soon as possible just to make sure no further damage can be done.”
— Toni Lipsey
“We might spend 40 to 80 hours collectively just to publish one single recipe to the website. [AI trains] on our data and then populates an answer in Google search without that value given back to us as publishers, that’s where the threat comes in.”
— Bjork Ostrom
What comes next
“It depends directionally on where these companies decide to go. It’s more beneficial for Google to capture that value as opposed to sending them to our site. And so there is a potential future where people aren’t going to the websites that they used to go to, but they’re still getting a version of that information within the context of their Google experience. And that is where the real threat is, in those generative answers in a search result.”
— Bjork Ostrom
I think it’s really important for us to put a bit more pressure on these companies to ensure that the traffic still makes its way to our sites.
— Toni Lipsey
Five action points
Raptive CIO Marc McCollum closed the session by reinforcing the five actions Raptive is asking elected officials to take:
- Enforce copyright laws
- Encourage revenue-sharing and licensing
- Ensure ethical product design
- Create a level playing field
- Hold big tech accountable
The Raptive Report
As part of Independents’ Day, we launched The Raptive Report: Protecting Content Creators in an AI Era. The report is a result of intensive research and survey work to highlight the significant role independent creators play in our economy and culture. The data and insights drive home why we need effective policy measures to protect content creators’ interests.
The US independent creator economy contributes roughly $100 billion nationally and accounts for 40% of the global creator economy. While it’s more difficult to quantify the cultural impact these creators have, our qualitative research proves that it is immense; the information in this report cannot be ignored.
Three takeaways from The Raptive Report
- Reckless innovation could imperil America’s thriving creator economy
- Creators must be recognized and compensated for their contributions to AI training and development
- Congress should ensure a sustainable, competitive creator economy
The open letter
Over 13,000 content creators and their supporters have signed our open letter calling on lawmakers and Big Tech to protect creators from unchecked AI, and on Independents’ Day we submitted it to Congress along with a cover letter from CEO Michael Sanchez.
Here’s an excerpt from the cover letter:
As Congress continues to shape the policy agenda on AI, independent creators
must have a seat at the table in this debate. They do not have trade associations or
expensive lawyers. That’s why Raptive is working to represent this community and
make their vital perspective heard. To be clear, we support innovation, but we believe
innovation should not come at the expense of those powering America’s thriving
and growing creator economy. To elevate these voices, we are sharing an open letter
signed by 13,000 constituents from all 50 states and DC for your consideration.
What comes next?
Raptive’s commitment to supporting creators remains unwavering. Moving forward, we’ll continue to advocate on their behalf, pushing for policies that support a balanced ecosystem where creators can thrive. We encourage people to keep signing the open letter—every new signature strengthens our message.
We’ll also keep gathering and sharing vital data through initiatives like The Raptive Report to highlight independent creators’ indispensable role in our economy and culture. By staying proactive and vocal, we aim to ensure creators’ interests are represented in every conversation about the future of AI and digital content.
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