Crime author Peter May hits out at Meta for 'stealing' dozens of his works to train its AI systems

By DAVID MEIKLE

Published: | Updated:

A bestselling author has accused social media giant Meta of 'stealing' dozens of his works to help develop its AI.

Peter May, whose crime novels have sold more than 15 million copies, says the Facebook owner has breached copyright laws by copying his work to train its artificial intelligence systems.

The author wrote on X: 'More than 100 of my books in various languages have been stolen by Meta.

'This company, worth more than £1trillion, have perpetrated bare-faced theft to feed their AI services for commercial purposes. A conscious decision not to pay legally required copyright. 

'With the internet and AI, the whole concept of copyright is under threat.'

Mr May, 73, was responding to another author's complaint on social media that her works had been included in an online database, which the Society of Authors say is used by Meta to train its AI. 

The Scottish writer's comments come after author and TV star Richard Osman vowed to 'take on Meta' over its use of millions of pirated books to develop its AI systems.

Mr May, who has also written primetime TV drama serials, said launching legal action was next to impossible for authors due to the enormous 'financial might' of Meta. 

Peter May (pictured) has accused social media giant Meta of 'stealing' dozens of his works to help develop its AI

Peter May (pictured) has accused social media giant Meta of 'stealing' dozens of his works to help develop its AI

Senior figures from the worlds of music, media and film have backed a major Daily Mail campaign to protect Britain's creative industries from the threat of AI

Senior figures from the worlds of music, media and film have backed a major Daily Mail campaign to protect Britain's creative industries from the threat of AI

TV star Richard Osman (pictured) vowed to 'take on Meta' over its use of millions of pirated books to develop its AI systems

TV star Richard Osman (pictured) vowed to 'take on Meta' over its use of millions of pirated books to develop its AI systems

He said another Big Tech firm, Google, 'have been stealing copyright in my books for years'.

He added: 'The upshot will be that creators will simply stop creating when they can't make a living at it, and everyone else will be poorer for that.'

Senior figures from the worlds of music, media and film have backed a major Daily Mail campaign to protect Britain's creative industries from the threat of AI.

The Government is proposing to change laws so Big Tech can use any online material to improve their AI models – without automatically respecting copyright laws that ensure its creators get paid.

Instead, creators would have to opt out of having their work exploited.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Meta – the parent company of WhatsApp and Instagram as well as Facebook – has used a searchable database full of pirated material to develop its AI models. 

The data set, called Library Genesis, contains 7.5 million books and 81 million research papers.

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