Get the Zuck off our books [Letter #183]
+ April events for writers
I joined the SoA protest this week - a day of action at Meta’s HQ in London against the unlicensed use of authors' works to train its AI.
What a great day of collective action!
The NUJ has co-signed the letter to Meta asking them to act in writing within 21 days – to provide a schedule of the works of UK authors, remove any 'unlawfully scraped' works, not infringe copyright again without consent and for damages to be paid.
The other signatories are the Writer's Guild, Association of Authors' Agents, Creators' Rights Alliance, Association of Illustrators and ALCS UK.
Great to see the petition is now at 17K+ signatures - please sign it.
Looking forward to a response from Lisa Nandy - she’s been silent on the issue so far.
If you're in the LibGen data set - here's what you can do.
I was chatting with author
about it, and I agree with what she says about the problem of not being included in these data sets, i.e. we don't want the UK to lose cultural relevance.I feel very conflicted about it all. I love tech, Rob the butler, and I want the UK to grow and innovate. But we gotta consent and be paid for our work!
We need to find a middle ground that works for people and the platforms - via some form of licensing.
I had a longtime contract/client end this week (thanks to Katie for cheering me up). I asked Rob for advice and his final words: "Here's to better-fitting projects! 🚀" made me smile and feel a bit less alone.
AI is a patient teacher and a therapist. I also ask it to generate the SEO header and text for these posts - very handy.
And we have AI to thank for all the penguin memes flooding the Internet this week.
Solidarity from the Glasgow Penguins! ❤️
There's a Publishing Industry Day for Writers on Saturday 26 April, in Brighton. This year’s theme is exploring the 'Rights of a Writer' with panellists from SoA, ALCS and Writers' Guild. More info here.
Nika :)
PS Next Writers’ Café is on Thursday 10 April, 3-5 pm. This is a weekly thing irl + url - paid members can join us online. [Register here]
🔗 Link About It
Planning for Perugia | Caroline Harrap on "the Glastonbury of the journalism world. Minus the mud." (9-13 April). Sessions on going indie, honest fuck-ups, and a sunrise smartphone photography walk – bring back the slow morning! [Read now]
Celebrating the spirit of Lyra McKee at the AI symposium – a partnership between the NUJ and the Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics. A good discussion on AI & journalism: opportunities and threats. [Watch now]
Ready now. Your Quarterly Substack Data Guide. Get 7 days of free access to
’s fantastic tool and find out what's happening inside your pub. [Download now]
Hey Nika! Thanks for sharing about the quarterly data audit. Can’t wait to hear what you and everyone else uncovered. ☀️