We can help with:
Accelerate your career
Join us today
Book an event
A unique 3-minute opportunity to pitch to publishers & agents
Do you want to know how to nail your pitch to publishers?
We advocate for members
Stay in the know
Stay in the know with industry news and ASA views.
Search our resources
Find ASA members
FAQs on publishing and more.
Member only guide to the Australian book industry.
MIN READ
The ASA is horrified to learn that Australian authors’ books have been included in a dataset of pirated books used by Meta to train their AI systems. According to an Atlantic article published on Thursday 20 March, Meta employees discussed licensing books and articles to train their AI, but instead decided to use millions of books from a pirate website, Library Genesis (LibGen), on the basis that it was faster and less expensive. The Atlantic also published a search tool enabling authors to check if their works were included in this pirated-books dataset.
ASA CEO, Lucy Hayward says, “Australian authors and illustrators have quite understandably responded with great dismay and outrage at finding their life’s work has been pirated and used to train Meta’s AI. Authors earn a living through their copyright, and in Australia make on average just $18,200 per year from their creative practice. It is not only unfair, it is appalling that one of the world’s wealthiest companies has chosen to use creators’ work without permission or payment – work that has been essential to the development of AI technology.”
It is clear: Government intervention is needed to safeguard creators’ rights and to ensure the sustainability of author and illustrator careers. Creators are not anti-tech; there has been a missed opportunity to develop generative AI in an ethical way that includes fair payment for authors’ and illustrators’ vital work. The ASA is calling for legislation which will ensure AI developers are transparent, obtain consent for use of copyright material, and compensate creators fairly.
“If we want to see Australian books – novels, histories, educational and children’s books – on our shelves in the future, we must act to protect authors and illustrators. Australian stories and storytelling are at stake. The horse has not bolted – there is still an opportunity to take sensible action to ensure that a few powerful overseas companies are not enriched at the cost of Australian culture,” Hayward says.
The ASA is advocating both within industry and to Government on behalf of authors and illustrators to ensure their concerns are being heard. We’ve made numerous submissions and briefings to Government emphasising the need for intervention to protect authors’ rights and livelihoods, worked closely with other creative industry bodies to highlight the impact of the development of generative AI on the creative sector, and collaborated on surveys and information-gathering to understand how authors and illustrators are being affected.
The ASA is also sharing information and advice to authors about the emergence of generative artificial intelligence and AI licensing. Read our guidelines for authors, or if you’re seeking advice, submit a query via our free Member Advice Service.
Search for your work using The Atlantic’s search tool, and if you find your work has been included, fill in our form. We need this information to demonstrate the scale of the impact upon creators and to advocate to Government on your behalf. We also encourage you to share this form with your networks.
Inform your publisher and/or agent about the inclusion of your work in this dataset.
Sign the global statement on AI training.
Join the ASA and support our efforts to ensure that authors and illustrators are heard. The more members we have, the stronger our voice.
Or, if membership is not right for you, considering donating to the ASA’s Endowment Fund to help us strengthen Australia’s writing culture and build a more supportive environment for Australia’s authors and illustrators. Donations over $2 are tax deductible.
