📰 News: Thousands of Authors Sign Letter Demanding AI Developers to Halt Book Theft & Plagiarism

Over 8,500 authors of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have signed an open letter urging tech companies behind prominent language models, including ChatGPT, Bard, LLaMa, and others, to discontinue the unauthorized usage of their books or written material without proper permission or compensation.

The writers stated that “these technologies mimic and regurgitate our language, stories, style, and ideas. Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill.”

Despite AI developers' systems being proficient in quoting and mimicking the authors, they have not adequately addressed the origins of these works. The authors stressed that the developers did not acquire these materials through publishers and proper licensing, which is considered the preferred and ethically appropriate method.

According to the open letter, the difficulties and limited profit margins in the expansive publishing industry have made it increasingly challenging for authors, especially emerging writers and those from underrepresented communities, to earn a living from their craft.

The letter specifically requests that the tech companies comply with the following requests:

• Obtain formal consent for the use of our copyrighted material in your generative AI programs.

• Fairly compensate writers for their past and ongoing works used in your generative AI programs.

• Guarantee fair payment to writers for the use of their works in AI output, regardless of potential legal infringement.