Creator media company Raptive has introduced a “Terms of Content Use” framework designed to protect its network of more than 6,000 independent creators from unauthorized AI scraping. The initiative explicitly prohibits AI bots from crawling and collecting content from websites within Raptive’s network.

“Creator ‘Terms of Content Use’ is a clear signal to AI companies that the era of exploiting creators’ work without consent or consequence is over,” Michael Sanchez, co-founder and CEO at Raptive, said in a press release.

The move comes as creator anxiety about AI scraping intensifies, according to a Digiday report. Data from Akamai shows AI-based bot activity has increased by 225% during the 2025 calendar year. Individual creators, particularly those with owned websites, now find themselves on the front lines of this battle.

“When people think of publishers, they think of those big, traditional media publishers – but there are many smaller publishers, like ourselves,” said Sarah Leung, a food content creator with the family-run blog and YouTube channel “The Woks of Life”.

Food writer Gina Homolka, who operates the Skinnytaste website, added: “Right now, I don’t think any creator can completely stop AI from scraping, but I am taking steps to protect my work where I can.”

Raptive’s initiative includes a WordPress plugin that blocks AI bot traffic. The company conducted a study between mid 2024 and mid 2025 to measure the impact of blocking AI bots on creators’ overall traffic and search rankings. The research finds no significant decrease in traffic for participating creators who implemented these protective measures.

“In some cases, those who had blocked [the AI scraping bot] Google-Extended were showing up more often than those who had not,” reports Marc McCollum, Raptive’s Chief Growth Officer.

Legal and Enforcement Challenges

Unlike major publishers such as The New York Times and Ziff Davis that have launched lawsuits against AI platforms, individual creators face practical limitations in pursuing legal challenges. IP lawyer Jesse Saivar of Greenberg Glusker noted that while creators have valid claims, they “likely don’t have the money to fight the claim” and are “not looking at anywhere near the type of recovery that the publishers would have.”

In a May statement responding to the U.S. Copyright Office’s report on generative AI training, Raptive emphasized: “For copyright to mean anything in practice, AI developers must respect the legal rights of creators, not just in theory, but in how their technologies are trained, deployed, and monetized.”

Broader Protection Initiative

The “Terms of Content Use” framework builds on Raptive’s previous efforts, including its “Keep it real” campaign launched a year ago. The company makes this protective language available to creators outside its network, positioning the initiative as part of a broader industry response to AI-driven disruption in digital media.

“We’re making this language available to everyone, including creators outside of Raptive’s network, so that any publisher can strengthen their defenses against unauthorized AI scraping,” McCollum said.

Checkout Our Latest Podcast