Authors Protest Against Meta’s AI Training Practices

Authors and publishing professionals are protesting outside Meta’s King’s Cross office in London today, opposing the company’s use of copyrighted books from the LibGen database to train its AI models, The Guardian reported. Notable participants include novelists Kate Mosse and Tracy Chevalier, along with poet Daljit Nagra.

Protesters will gather at Granary Square at 1:30 PM to deliver a letter from the Society of Authors (SoA) to Meta, which alleges that CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of LibGen, a “shadow library” containing over 7.5 million books. Many authors discovered their works were included in the database.

SoA chair Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin criticized Meta’s actions as “illegal” and damaging to writers. A Meta spokesperson defended the company’s practices as compliant with existing laws. Additionally, a group of authors has urged the UK government to hold Meta accountable for copyright infringement, with a petition garnering 7,000 signatures. Protesters are encouraged to use hashtags like #MetaBookThieves.