A group of furious British authors are demanding answers after discovering their work may have been taken without permission to train artificial intelligence, in what they’re calling “the biggest attack on British copyright in history.”
Award-winning novelist AJ West, author of The Betrayal of Thomas True, spoke to GB News after a protest outside Meta’s London HQ and accused the government of abandoning the country’s creative industry at a time of unprecedented threat.
An investigation by The Atlantic revealed that Meta may have used millions of pirated books and academic papers from Library Genesis (LibGen) to train its generative AI system, LLaMA.
West exclusively told GB News: "Meta has taken our work without consent or compensation, and Lisa Nandy has said absolutely nothing.
AJ West blasted the government for "ignoring" authors
GB NEWS
"I think it is egregious, we've heard absolutely nothing from our government. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has has not said a word. This is the biggest attack on British authors in history, and our Culture Secretary has said nothing and done nothing.
"Authors are known for being polite and quiet and insular and stuck in front of our typewriters, but now is the time we have to fight."
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He added: “If you went back and told Jane Austen, Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy our great novelists that we’ re in this situation now, they must be absolutely spinning in their graves, looking at the way that novelists are being treated today.
"It comes down to how much respect we have in Britain for our own culture and for our own history.
"That’s what this is really about. It’s about the individuals, yes — and about us needing to be compensated and feeling respected, as though we matter — but it’s also about something much bigger than that.
"Most people have this idea that novelists are living in lovely cottages and riding horses but the truth is, most authors are working full-time jobs, raising kids, and writing in their spare time.
"It’s an incredibly tough industry. You don’t make much money. And yet, we are being treated like we’re disposable.
"Books, stories, writing they are one of Britain’s most valuable exports.
"Our authors, our history, our art that’s what people know us for. Who would we even be as a country without our writers?"
West criticised what he called Lisa Nandy’s “misplaced priorities,” pointing to her recent media appearances promoting a new Warner Brothers theme park based on beloved characters like Paddington and James Bond.
West criticised what he called Lisa Nandy’s “misplaced priorities"
PAIn December, the government launched a consultation aimed at balancing the rights of copyright holders with the interests of AI companies.
The goal was to explore how creators could remain in control of — and be fairly paid for — their work, while still allowing AI developers “broad and lawful access to high-quality data.”
One of the proposals under consideration would grant tech companies automatic access to creative works — including books, films, and TV shows — for AI training, unless the creators explicitly opted out.
West hinted at a second, larger protest being planned near Parliament, involving authors, artists and musicians united against the exploitation of their work by AI companies — and the lack of government protection.
He explained: "Labour says it supports British workers. Well, we’re British workers. And our work is being stolen in broad daylight:
GB News has contacted The Department of Media and Sport and Meta for comment.
