Increasingly, generative AI is transforming how that information is analysed, summarised and shared.

According to 2026 research by the Copyright Licensing Agency, over 71% of pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals report that some form of generative AI is used at work, rising to an average of 78% across office-based roles. At the same time, just over 3 in 5 (63%) say their organisation’s investment in AI has increased in the past year.

For pharmaceutical and healthcare organisations, this presents significant opportunities to accelerate research, support decision-making, and improve efficiency. But it also introduces new risks, particularly around how published content is reused, shared, and used as prompts in AI tools.

A sector driven by knowledge sharing

Pharma and healthcare teams routinely work with a wide range of third-party content, including journal articles, clinical studies, and industry reports. This peer-reviewed STM content underpins research and development, regulatory compliance, medical communications, and commercial strategy.

Generative AI tools offer a new way to engage with that content. Professionals may use them to prompt AI tools to summarise research, draft materials, compare findings, or generate insights based on multiple sources.

However, without the correct permissions in place, this activity can present copyright concerns.

This is particularly important in a sector where compliance is already critical. Alongside data protection, patient safety, and regulatory requirements, organisations must also ensure that their reuse of content is copyright compliant.

There is already a strong awareness of this challenge. Nearly 67% of professionals say that infringing copyright is a risk to their business.

At the same time, day-to-day behaviours don’t always reflect that awareness. Just over half say they would copy or share content at work if they needed to. This highlights a gap between policy and practice, especially as AI tools make it easier to reuse content quickly and at scale.

In pharmaceutical and healthcare settings, where collaboration is essential, this tension is amplified. Teams frequently share information internally across departments and often across global teams. Generative AI can accelerate these processes, but it can also increase the likelihood of content being reused in ways that are not compliant.

Governance needs to evolve with the technology

As AI adoption grows, organisations need governance frameworks that enable innovation while managing legal, regulatory and operational risk.

Effective governance in this space should cover:

  • Generative AI usage policies: Establish clear, enforceable guidelines on how generative AI tools can be used within the organisation, specifying approved use cases, tools, and any restrictions.
  • Content governance and licensing: Pharmaceutical teams often work with third-party clinical literature, research papers, and published research. Define what types of content and data can be used as prompts or inputs in generative AI tools, and ensure appropriate permissions and licences are in place to support the lawful use of third-party published content protected by copyright.
  • Employee training and accountability: Implement regular training programs to educate and inform employees on generative AI, responsible uses, and copyright considerations when prompting generative AI tools. For pharmaceutical and medical communications teams, this should include how to critically review AI outputs before sharing with regulatory bodies.
  • Tool evaluation and security: Assess the security credentials of a generative AI tool before authorising its implementation and use in the workplace, and do this on a continual basis to ensure that the tool not only complies with the organisation’s data and security requirements and controls, but that content and data inputted will not be used to train the tool’s underlying algorithm. For pharmaceutical companies, this is especially critical when handling sensitive clinical trial data or confidential product information, as any breach could damage trust and reputation, and raise patient safety or compliance concerns.
  • Monitoring and auditing: Establish processes to track usage of generative AI tools within the organisation, ensure compliance with the policy by users, and identify and address potential risks early on.

Supporting compliant content reuse in AI workflows

Governance frameworks are only effective if they address one of the most common AI activities in the workplace – reusing published content in prompts.

This is where licensing plays an important role. CLA’s Pharmaceutical Licence includes workplace generative AI permissions that allow organisations to lawfully use content from opted-in publications when prompting generative AI tools for activities such as drafting, summarising and analysing content. These permissions ensure that rightsholders continue to receive fair remuneration as their content is being reused in new ways.

Combined with clear policies, employee training and appropriate oversight, licensing provides a practical foundation for responsible AI adoption. It enables pharmaceutical and healthcare organisations to realise the benefits of generative AI while protecting intellectual property, supporting regulatory compliance and maintaining trust.

In a sector built on trusted information and evidence-based decision-making, that balance between innovation and compliance is becoming increasingly important.

To learn more about the Copyright Licence for Pharmaceutical and Medical Organisations, click here.