One year after discussions on AI training data and copyright, the situation remains largely unchanged, according to Sebastian Guggolz, president of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, during the opening press conference of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Despite promises from the State Minister for Culture and coordination with Brussels, no legislative framework has been implemented. Without a legal requirement for transparency regarding training data, the burden of proof falls on rights holders, who must gather evidence and initiate costly legal actions against major global companies. Penguin Random House and Carlsen have already filed lawsuits over clear cases of plagiarism, but most European publishers lack the resources to do the same. The legal decisions expected from these cases may take years to reach a conclusion. Guggolz emphasized the need for "clear rules that apply without someone first having to file a complaint." Published alongside these discussions, the "Frankfurter Appell," or "Frankfurt Appeal," has gained wide support from publishers. It calls for greater transparency in data usage, incentives for licensing, and effective enforcement mechanisms. The appeal targets the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the German federal government. A panel titled "First the complaint, then the regulation" will take place on Thursday at 11:30 AM at the fair, featuring the president of the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee and a representative from the Federal Ministry of Justice. The rise of AI-generated books is capturing "a significant portion of the market," especially in practical guides and travel books, sometimes without proper human proofreading, which can mislead buyers. This comes at a time of declining book sales, savings rates at their highest since the 2008 financial crisis, and increasing bureaucratic and cost pressures. Despite these challenges, AI is viewed as a "powerful accelerator" for analyzing manuscripts, metadata, and improving the discoverability of book collections, according to Juergen Boos, who is leading the Frankfurt Book Fair after 21 years of service. However, he warns that AI "touches the foundation of publishing and intellectual property." Opening the Frankfurt Calling cycle, American historian Jill Lepore placed the debate on a political footing. She argued that "the knowledge contained in the world's books has been entirely swallowed by machines" owned by corporations. She described a world increasingly governed, and in some cases replaced, by these machines as an "artificial state" and concluded, "Our thoughts, our words, and our books belong to us." This idea has become a central theme for the 78th edition of the fair, which is also undergoing significant changes in format. The fair aims to highlight "that in Frankfurt, the book moves." Over 120 events will be held in 11 locations by Sunday, and for the first time, in partnership with the International Publishers Association (IPA), the fair will award a prize to defenders of freedom of expression.