Many writers and agents were shocked last week when Melbourne publisher Black Inc Books formally asked its authors to agree to their work being used to train artificial intelligence (AI) and given just days to sign. The request comes only a few months after the Senate Select Committee on Adopting AI released its final list of recommendations, ostensibly designed to protect Australian creators.
According to an investigation by The Guardian, writers were asked to grant Black Inc “the right to reproduce or use, adapt and exploit the work in connection with the development of any software program, including, without limitation, training, testing, validation and the deployment of a machine learning or generative artificial intelligence system”. The publisher was set to split the net receipts with the author 50/50.
The publisher promised authors that this would allow authors to unlock new revenue and increase the visibility of their work. The publisher did not specify with which AI company it would be working. The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) said the request was “outrageous”.
“What is the rush?” asked the ASA’s chief executive, Lucy Hayward. “We don’t know who Black Inc will sublicense to, what conditions they will impose or what the fee will be. Asking for blanket permission for all future licensing – particularly under time pressure – is unnecessary and unfair.”
Kate Nash, Black Inc’s head of marketing and publicity, said many writers had already permitted Black Inc to sublicense their work to AI companies. “We believe authors should be credited and compensated appropriately and that safeguards are necessary to protect ownership rights in response to increasing industrial automation,” she said in a statement.
The request spooked much of the industry, including agent and owner of Australian Literary Management, Lyn Tranter, who told The Guardian. “The industry is in such serious s**t at the moment … what with the takeover of Text and Affirm, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. I spoke to [a publishing colleague] and he said, ‘You know, we’re dead. You know, it’s just going down the toilet’.”
Read: AI is changing the game for voice actors – and not in a good way
Tranter was referring to a period of unique volatility for the Australian publishing industry, which has seen three mid-sized local publishers acquired in just six months. Black Inc Books is one of the last few medium-sized local publishers left standing. Controversy and widespread debate about the use of AI in publishing continue worldwide.
