Does "All Media Now Known or Hereafter Devised" Cover AI?

Quick answer: Companies are increasingly treating this decades-old future-proofing phrase as already covering AI-related uses, without renegotiating anything. Whether that's a valid legal interpretation is still being tested and hasn't been settled uniformly.

Long before AI, contract drafters included language meant to future-proof agreements against technology that didn't exist yet. That language is now doing exactly what it was designed to do, just for a use case no one had in mind when it was written.

Where the phrase came from

"All media now known or hereafter devised" originally existed to cover genuine shifts in distribution technology, the move from physical sales to digital streaming being one clear historical example. It let a single agreement survive a format change without needing renegotiation. At the time it was drafted into most standard agreements, the "hereafter devised" technology drafters had in mind was something like DVDs or on-demand cable, not a system that could generate an entirely new synthetic performance.

Why it's relevant to AI now

Because the phrase is deliberately broad, companies holding contracts that include it, some dating back a decade or more, are treating it as already covering AI-related uses. Long-running record and talent deals, some lasting fifteen to twenty years across multiple contract cycles, are especially affected. In many of these cases, the original signer had no reasonable way to anticipate generative AI when they agreed to the language, and no practical way to renegotiate it now without reopening the entire agreement.

The tension this creates

There's a real dispute buried here: does language written before AI existed genuinely anticipate and cover AI use, or is that an overly convenient reading by whoever holds the rights? Courts and regulators haven't settled this definitively, which is exactly why it matters to check your own agreements for this language. This is likely to be one of the more active areas of contract litigation over the next several years, as more rights holders begin challenging the assumption that decades-old boilerplate silently covers today's AI systems.

What to do if you find this language in an existing contract

• Note the date the agreement was signed relative to when generative AI tools became widely available
• Check whether any amendments or renewals since then specifically addressed AI, since a renewal can sometimes reset the interpretation
• Consider requesting a specific, forward-looking clarification or carve-out at the next natural renewal or renegotiation point, rather than waiting for a dispute to force the issue

FAQ

What does "all media now known or hereafter devised" actually mean? Contract language meant to cover future technology and distribution methods that didn't exist when the agreement was signed.

Can this phrase legally cover AI uses? Companies are increasingly treating it that way, though whether that's a valid legal interpretation is still being tested and isn't settled uniformly.

Should I check my older contracts for this language? Yes, especially long-running agreements like record deals or talent contracts, where this phrasing is common and may now be interpreted more broadly than originally intended.