Around 10,000 writers have published an "empty" book to protest against artificial intelligence companies using their work without permission or payment. The book, titled Don't Steal This Book, contains only a list of contributors' names and is being distributed at the London Book Fair.
As stated on social media:
Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies. The UK government is considering upending copyright law to benefit AI companies. Don't Steal This Book urges them not to.
Apart from the list of authors involved, the book is empty, representing the effect the government's plans would have on authors' livelihoods. We're handing out 1,000 free copies at London Book Fair over the next couple of days. If you're there, pick up a copy!
A huge thank you to the thousands of authors involved.
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Among the authors supporting the campaign are Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman. The initiative was organised by composer and campaigner Ed Newton-Rex, who argues that AI companies are training their models on copyrighted material without consent.
The protest comes as the UK government prepares to publish an assessment of proposed copyright law changes affecting AI development. Creative professionals have raised concerns that new rules could allow AI firms to use copyrighted work unless authors explicitly opt out, a proposal that has triggered strong opposition across the publishing and arts industries.