RSL (Really Simple Licensing)
RSL is an open standard that lets publishers state, in a file machines can read, how AI companies may use their content and on what terms.
RSL, short for Really Simple Licensing, is an open standard that lets a website say how AI companies may use its content, in a form a machine can read. Instead of writing a contract with each company, a publisher puts its terms in a file and points to it from its site.
It matters if you publish content and want a say in how AI uses it: whether it can be used to train models, whether you want credit, and whether you want paying. It also matters if you want your content used freely, as RSL lets you say that plainly too.
What it lets you say
The RSL standard lets a publisher set terms such as:
- Whether the content may be used to train AI models
- Whether you want to be credited when it's used
- Whether AI companies pay per page they crawl, or each time the content is used in an answer
- Which content is covered, from a single page to a whole catalogue
It's run by the RSL Collective, a non-profit that also offers to manage licensing and payment on behalf of publishers.
How it fits with robots.txt
robots.txt says which bots may read which pages. It can't say "you may read this if you credit me" or "you may read this for a fee." RSL adds those terms. Many sites use both: robots.txt for access, and RSL for the conditions.
Like robots.txt, it only works if AI companies choose to follow it. Check whether the platforms that matter to you do before you count on it.
An example
Kestrel Roasters publishes a large library of brewing guides. It wants AI search to cite them, so people find Kestrel, but it doesn't want them used to train models for free. With RSL it can allow use in answers with credit, and set a price for training. Its robots.txt still lets search bots in.