In Britain, 10 000 writers have released a book with their names as the only text, protesting against the use of their work by AI

Thousands of British authors, including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman, have published a "blank" book in protest against the use of their works by artificial intelligence companies without permission.

The Guardian writes about this.

Nearly 10 000 writers have signed a book “Don’t Steal This Book” which lists only their names. Copies are being distributed to visitors to the London Book Fair on Tuesday, a week before the UK government is due to publish an assessment of the economic impact of proposed changes to copyright law.

The British government is considering a model under which AI companies can use copyrighted texts, music, paintings or other works to train models without the authorʼs permission.

But the author can prohibit this — if he specifically states his refusal. However, in early March, the adoption of these changes was postponed due to widespread dissatisfaction from the creative industries.

The initiativeʼs organizer, composer and copyright activist Ed Newton-Rex, said that the artificial intelligence industry is "built on stolen works — taken without permission or payment."

"This is not a victimless crime — generative AI competes with the people on whose jobs it is trained, depriving them of their livelihoods. The government must protect British creators and refuse to legalise the theft of creative work by AI companies," he said.

The back cover of the book reads: "The UK government should not legalize book theft for the benefit of AI companies."

At the London Book Fair, publishers are also launching an AI licensing initiative. The industry non-profit Publishers Licensing Services is creating a collective licensing system and inviting industry members to join it to ensure legal access to published works.

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