The Guardian view on changes to copyright laws: authors should be protected over big tech | Editorial

"The Society of Authors described its labelling scheme as an important sticking plaster to protect and promote human creativity in lieu of AI labelled content in the marketplace. Visitors to the fair were also being given copies of Don't Steal This Book, an anthology of about 10,000 writers including Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, Malorie Blackman, Jeanette Winterson and Richard Osman, in which the pages are completely blank."

"According to a University of Cambridge study last autumn, almost 60% of published authors believe their work has been used to train large language models without consent or payment. And nearly 40% said their income had already fallen as result of generative AI or machine-made novels, a digital incarnation of Orwell's Versificator in Nineteen Eighty-Four."

"Philippa Gregory, the novelist, described the plans for an opt-out policy, which puts the onus on writers to refuse permission for their work to be trawled, as akin to putting a sign on your front door asking burglars to pass by."

At the London Book Fair, the Society of Authors introduced a 'Human Authored' labeling scheme to protect human creativity from AI-generated content. Writers distributed blank copies of 'Don't Steal This Book,' featuring 10,000 authors including Kazuo Ishiguro and Richard Osman, protesting government proposals to relax copyright laws. A Cambridge study found nearly 60% of published authors believe their work was used to train AI models without consent, with almost 40% experiencing income loss. Nonfiction sales declined 6% year-over-year, the lowest since 2014, as AI threatens factual content. Writers oppose opt-out policies that shift responsibility to authors to refuse permission, comparing it to inviting burglars to bypass homes.

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