Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
A US court filing earlier this year alleged that Meta mined online library 'LibGen' to train its AI models. Around 100 authors on Thursday protested outside the London headquarters of Meta, accusing the US tech giant of "stealing" content to train its Artificial Intelligence models.
Writers chanted "Meta, Meta, book thieves" as they made their way to the Meta building, with some carrying placards reading "I'd write a sign but you'd steal it" and "Get the Zuck off our books", in reference to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The protest was a response to a US court filing earlier this year that alleged Zuckerberg approved the company using the online library "LibGen", which provides access to copyrighted works and contains more than 7.5 million books.
Authors Fight Back Against Alleged Content Theft
The Atlantic magazine has published a searchable database of the titles contained in "LibGen", allowing authors to find out if their works may have been used to train Meta's AI models. A Meta spokesperson stated that "we respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law."
However, authors like AJ West, author of "The Spirit Engineer", expressed feeling "abused and disgusted" upon discovering his work on the database. He mentioned, "To have my work that took years to write, and that I poured my heart and soul into, used to make tech billionaires even more money, without my permission, is so disgusting. They've taken my books and fed them into a machine that is specifically designed to ruin me."
Authors' Calls for Government Intervention
Despite attempts to deliver a letter signed by leading authors like Kate Mosse and Richard Osman at the Meta front desk, the doors were found locked. AJ West highlighted the importance of government intervention, criticizing Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy for her silence on "the biggest attack on British copyright in history".
Author and TV writer Gail Renard emphasized the significance of consequences for copyright infringement, stating, "The creative industry is Britain's second-biggest industry. We bring in £125 billion ($164 billion) a year. If you want to kill off the creative industries, kill off our copyright. There's a lot of anger here."
Authors Express Frustration and Anger
Artist and author Sophie Parkin voiced her frustration with the situation, mentioning, "They aren't even creating anything, they are stealing our words and then making money out of it." She urged the government to take action and criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his approach to the issue.
The protest highlighted the growing concern among creators of copyrighted works towards companies utilizing generative AI platforms that ingest vast amounts of content to build predictive models. While leading AI companies argue they are allowed to do so under US "fair use" provisions, this argument is being tested in courts in America and elsewhere.
Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
