Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
An 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.
Alleged Use of 'LibGen' by Meta
A US court filing earlier this year alleged that Zuckerberg approved the company using the online library "LibGen", which provides access to copyrighted works and contains more than 7.5 million books. 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 told the Guardian that "we respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law."
Authors' Reactions
AJ West, author of "The Spirit Engineer", expressed feeling "abused and disgusted" upon finding his work on the database. He stated, "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." West attempted to deliver a letter, signed by leading authors including Kate Mosse and Richard Osman, at the Meta front desk, but found the doors locked.
Call for Government Intervention
West called on the UK government to intervene, expressing concern over the lack of response from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy regarding "the biggest attack on British copyright in history." The authors at the protest emphasized the significance of protecting intellectual property and holding companies like Meta accountable for their actions.
Legal Implications
The protest reflected the growing frustration among creators towards companies utilizing generative AI platforms without proper authorization. The debate over the interpretation of US "fair use" provisions in the context of AI training is gaining traction in legal discussions and court proceedings.
Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
