Authors hold London protest against Meta for ‘stealing’ work to train AI
ByAFP
April 4, 2025
Image: — © AFP/File Ian Maule
James PHEBY
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.
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.”
But AJ West, author of “The Spirit Engineer”, said he felt “abused and disgusted” when he found his work on the database.
“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,” he told AFP.
“They’ve taken my books and fed them into a machine that is specifically designed to ruin me,” he added.
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.
“It’s very telling that a company that saw fit to steal billions of words is now afraid of 500 words on one sheet of paper. It’s insult piled upon insult,” he said.
West called on the UK government to intervene, saying it was “reprehensible” that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had “said nothing” about “the biggest attack on British copyright in history”.
– ‘Has to be consequences’ –
Author and TV writer Gail Renard, 69, told AFP that “if you stole a diamond ring there’d be consequences and there has to be consequences”.
“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,” added the author.
Artist and author Sophie Parkin, 63, said the situation was “a life-changer for everybody, because what’s the point of going on writing?”
“They aren’t even creating anything, they are stealing our words and then making money out of it,” added Parkin, who was wearing a sign on her sunhat reading “AI pay authors”.
She also urged the government to take action, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “toadying up to these billionaires”.
The protest was yet another instance of creators of copyrighted works focusing anger on companies building generative AI platforms that ingest huge amounts of words, images or sounds to build their predictive models.
The leading AI companies have put forward claims that they are allowed to do so under US “fair use” provisions, but that argument is started to be tested in courts in America and elsewhere.
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Shareg anything, they are stealing our words and then making money out of it,” added Parkin, who was wearing a sign on her sunhat reading “AI pay authors”.
She also urged the government to take action, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “toadying up to these billionaires”.
The protest was yet another instance of creators of copyrighted works focusing anger on companies building generative AI platforms that ingest huge amounts of words, images or sounds to build their predictive models.
The leading AI companies have put forward claims that they are allowed to do so under US “fair use” provisions, but that argument is started to be tested in courts in America and elsewhere.
ByAFP
April 4, 2025
Image: — © AFP/File Ian Maule
James PHEBY
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.
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.”
But AJ West, author of “The Spirit Engineer”, said he felt “abused and disgusted” when he found his work on the database.
“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,” he told AFP.
“They’ve taken my books and fed them into a machine that is specifically designed to ruin me,” he added.
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.
“It’s very telling that a company that saw fit to steal billions of words is now afraid of 500 words on one sheet of paper. It’s insult piled upon insult,” he said.
West called on the UK government to intervene, saying it was “reprehensible” that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had “said nothing” about “the biggest attack on British copyright in history”.
– ‘Has to be consequences’ –
Author and TV writer Gail Renard, 69, told AFP that “if you stole a diamond ring there’d be consequences and there has to be consequences”.
“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,” added the author.
Artist and author Sophie Parkin, 63, said the situation was “a life-changer for everybody, because what’s the point of going on writing?”
“They aren’t even creating anything, they are stealing our words and then making money out of it,” added Parkin, who was wearing a sign on her sunhat reading “AI pay authors”.
She also urged the government to take action, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “toadying up to these billionaires”.
The protest was yet another instance of creators of copyrighted works focusing anger on companies building generative AI platforms that ingest huge amounts of words, images or sounds to build their predictive models.
The leading AI companies have put forward claims that they are allowed to do so under US “fair use” provisions, but that argument is started to be tested in courts in America and elsewhere.
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmail
Shareg anything, they are stealing our words and then making money out of it,” added Parkin, who was wearing a sign on her sunhat reading “AI pay authors”.
She also urged the government to take action, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “toadying up to these billionaires”.
The protest was yet another instance of creators of copyrighted works focusing anger on companies building generative AI platforms that ingest huge amounts of words, images or sounds to build their predictive models.
The leading AI companies have put forward claims that they are allowed to do so under US “fair use” provisions, but that argument is started to be tested in courts in America and elsewhere.
Zuckerberg repeats Trump visits in bid to settle antitrust case
By AFP
By AFP
April 3, 2025
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, pictured at Trump's inauguration, has reportedly made repeat visits to the White House ahead of the trial - Copyright AFP Jade GAO
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tries to persuade US President Donald Trump to settle a major antitrust case before it goes to trial on April 14, US media reported.
The case against Meta was filed in 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission and seeks to prove that the company formerly known as Facebook illegally acquired potential competitors, particularly Instagram and WhatsApp, to eliminate competitive threats.
The New York Times reported that Zuckerberg has visited Trump at both the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort several times in recent weeks as he makes a last-ditch attempt to spare his company the seven- to eight-week trial.
The trial is to take place in a Washington federal court, with Zuckerberg and former executive Sheryl Sandberg among those to take the stand.
Contacted by AFP, a Meta spokesman said: “Mark’s continuing the meetings he’s been holding with the administration on American technology leadership.”
Since Trump took back the White House, Zuckerberg has courted the president with frequent visits and notable changes to corporate policies on matters like content moderation, aligning himself politically with the Republican administration.
Zuckerberg has also bought a $23 million residence in the US capital in recent weeks as he steps up his lobbying of Trump.
The case from the FTC focuses on Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, with the US government alleging Meta made the purchases while operating an illegal monopoly in the US social networking market.
It is seeking to force the company to divest from these platforms, but the final outcome could take years after appeals.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has yet to decide whether the administration will settle with the company, which would be a highly unusual decision at this stage of the proceedings.
Asked recently about his agency’s commitment to the case, Trump-appointed FTC chair Andrew Ferguson said his teams were “gearing up” for the trial.
“This trial has been five years in the making, was started by President Trump in 2020 and we have the resources ready to go,” he added in comments to Bloomberg TV last month.
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, pictured at Trump's inauguration, has reportedly made repeat visits to the White House ahead of the trial - Copyright AFP Jade GAO
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tries to persuade US President Donald Trump to settle a major antitrust case before it goes to trial on April 14, US media reported.
The case against Meta was filed in 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission and seeks to prove that the company formerly known as Facebook illegally acquired potential competitors, particularly Instagram and WhatsApp, to eliminate competitive threats.
The New York Times reported that Zuckerberg has visited Trump at both the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort several times in recent weeks as he makes a last-ditch attempt to spare his company the seven- to eight-week trial.
The trial is to take place in a Washington federal court, with Zuckerberg and former executive Sheryl Sandberg among those to take the stand.
Contacted by AFP, a Meta spokesman said: “Mark’s continuing the meetings he’s been holding with the administration on American technology leadership.”
Since Trump took back the White House, Zuckerberg has courted the president with frequent visits and notable changes to corporate policies on matters like content moderation, aligning himself politically with the Republican administration.
Zuckerberg has also bought a $23 million residence in the US capital in recent weeks as he steps up his lobbying of Trump.
The case from the FTC focuses on Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, with the US government alleging Meta made the purchases while operating an illegal monopoly in the US social networking market.
It is seeking to force the company to divest from these platforms, but the final outcome could take years after appeals.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has yet to decide whether the administration will settle with the company, which would be a highly unusual decision at this stage of the proceedings.
Asked recently about his agency’s commitment to the case, Trump-appointed FTC chair Andrew Ferguson said his teams were “gearing up” for the trial.
“This trial has been five years in the making, was started by President Trump in 2020 and we have the resources ready to go,” he added in comments to Bloomberg TV last month.
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