“I felt as if my soul had been strip mined and I was powerless to stop it. This is the biggest act of copyright theft in history.” – Booker prize-winning Australian novelist Richard Flanagan.

Thousands of books penned by some of Australia’s most esteemed authors may have fallen victim to what Booker prize-winning novelist Richard Flanagan has described as “the biggest act of copyright theft in history.” These literary works are believed to have been pirated by the US-based Books3 dataset, which was then used to train generative AI systems for major corporations like Meta and Bloomberg.

Flanagan, who recently discovered that ten of his works, including the critically acclaimed 2013 novel “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” were part of the Books3 dataset, expressed deep shock and helplessness in the face of this revelation. He characterized the situation as an unprecedented theft of intellectual property. (The Guardian)

The Australian Publishers Association has confirmed that approximately 18,000 fiction and nonfiction titles with Australian ISBNs may have been affected by this copyright infringement. However, it remains uncertain how many of these titles are Australian editions of books authored internationally.

The disclosure of this piracy came to light through a search tool published by the US media platform The Atlantic, revealing that the works of prominent Australian authors such as Peter Carey, Helen Garner, Kate Grenville, and Thomas Keneally were also part of the pirated dataset, which contained over 180,000 titles.

The Australian Society of Authors expressed its horror at the unauthorized use of Australian writers’ works to train artificial intelligence. They described the Books3 dataset as piracy on an industrial scale and called for greater transparency in the development and monetization of AI by global tech giants.

Australia’s Copyright Agency CEO, Josephine Johnston, noted that content owners, many of whom are individual authors, may have to resort to legal action to protect their rights. Litigation in the US has already begun against OpenAI over the use of allegedly pirated book datasets.

This widespread copyright infringement has raised significant legal and ethical challenges for the publishing industry and authors worldwide. The Australian government is currently conducting consultations to establish safeguards for responsible AI use. Flanagan urged the government to take action to protect the country’s writers and cultural heritage, emphasizing the need for a fair market that respects copyright owners’ rights.

Related Story: Authors Guild, The Writers’ Trade Body, Sues OpenAI

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay