For those not in the business, the current legal flap is over copyright. Several companies have been using published works to train AI, a violation of copyright.

What is copyright? It covers, among other things, intellectual property such as literary works. Books, short stories and more and protects them against copy without permission. According to the law, written work in a tangible form, including in a document on your computer, is ‘copyrighted’ and cannot be copied. (Plagiarism is the unlawful copying of another’s work and reproducing it as your own.) That means published works should be considered copyrighted and protected from unlawful use. It is recommended, however, that published works, whether published through an agency such as a publisher or self-published should be formally copyrighted through the office of copyright.

A lawsuit was brought against the AI companies that used published works. In one such case, Bartz vs Anthropic, it is estimated that 7 million books were used.Only about 500,000 were officially copyrighted through the copyright office. Although the case was settled, and Anthropic agreed to pay a settlement, because nothing is ever simple, the case is still tied up in court.

I am following the case with close attention since several of my books were used and at least 5 are eligible for a claim.

Who knew being and author would end up being so complicated!