Protest at Meta’s London Headquarters

Today, authors—including notable figures like Kate Mosse and Tracy Chevalier—are gathering outside Meta’s headquarters in King’s Cross, London. This demonstration is in response to allegations that Meta used millions of pirated books to train its latest artificial intelligence model, Llama 3.

The discontent follows the recent publication of a searchable database by Atlantic, revealing over 7.5 million books and 81 million research papers supposedly sourced from a notorious shadow library, Library Genesis (LibGen).

Organizers and Statements

The protest, initiated by Society of Authors (SoA) member AJ West, highlights the unauthorized use of creative works. West expressed his dismay, stating, “To have my beautiful books ripped off like this without my permission feels like I’ve been mugged. Authors have been too friendly for too long. Enough polite, it’s time to fight!”

The SoA has branded Meta with the moniker #MetaBookThieves and called for an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, while also issuing an open letter to Meta demanding accountability for their actions.

Concerns Over Copyright Violation

The SoA criticized Meta for what they called an “unacceptable” approach to using unlawfully acquired data instead of following the standard licensing processes. This illegal use of copyright-protected material includes a wide range of genres, from fiction to academic textbooks.

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, chair of the SoA’s Management Committee, remarked, “If Meta had broken into our houses and stolen our laptops, we’d call the police. But they can’t help us, so we’re calling on the government to assist with this theft.”

Industry Support and Broader Implications

Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random House UK, also echoed the sentiments of the protest, stating that the creative industry must be defended against unauthorized exploitation: “We will vigorously defend the intellectual property that belongs to our authors and artists. The unauthorized ingestion of copyrighted content to train generative AI models is a copyright infringement.” He emphasized the need to uphold the UK’s copyright regime to ensure creators receive the compensation they deserve.

Details of the Protest

The peaceful protest will convene at Meta’s London offices, located at 11-22 Canal Reach, King’s Cross. Attendees are expected to gather at Granary Square at 1 PM for the march commencing at 1:30 PM.

For those seeking more information about the event, please contact Teddy McDonald.