No ... you may not

"Yesterday (20 March 2025), The Atlantic published a searchable database of over 7.5 million books and 81 million research papers. This data set, called Library Genesis or ‘LibGen’ for short, is full of pirated material, and all of it has been used to develop AI systems by tech giant Meta." - from Society of Authors

I've had 20-some books and novellas published. Some independently and more by publishers. It's quite a ride. Lots of fun during the writing of the book and seeing it out there for public consumption and when good reviews come down the pike. Although I liked the day job I retired from a lot and am grateful for the pension I earned while working it, writing is way up there on my BFF list. Just as I can't imagine being without my other friends, separating writing from me would be ... beyond awful.

One reason, and maybe it's a selfish one, is that the writing and ownership of those words is always mine. If you buy my stuff, it becomes yours to love or hate, to rewrite in your mind, to decide what the people I write look like, to shelve and keep it or to throw it against the wall.

If you buy it. Or borrow it from the library or a friend. You can't quote long passages of it for your own use. You can't say, "Oh, I like that," and use it in a story of your own.

If you want to steal it as a training manual for AI, then no. No, you may not. And yet META has handed over 17 of my books to AI companies for just that. Without permission, which would not have been given. Without payment, which is not a surprise. Without conscience. Also not a surprise.

I'm writing this including numbers that are more relatable than 7.5 million--that number is way beyond what I can fathom. My friend Nan Reinhardt's 10, two of Gracie Guy's, 23 of Lucinda Race's, 97 of Cheryl St. John's.

To name a few. So add up just those I've mentioned here, including my own. You have 149 books whose words have been stolen. Cheryl St. John said it better than I can. "What is it worth to use my lifetime of hard work... tears... midnight hours... skill...passion... to train AI without my permission? Authors are furious and hurt."

There is a lawsuit, a huge one, because that 7.5 million is a huge number of books. Pirating books is nothing new. Although authors try to get their stories taken down from pirate sites, we often can't get it done. This is no different from pirating, times 7,500,000. When you think about it, it makes you wonder how many people who steal books and how many companies who steal other people's work would be aghast if they were referred to as what they are. Shoplifters. Grifters. Thieves.

I've written letters. I hope everyone does. Lots of them.

I'm not going to make a fortune on those 17 of my books. If money were the driving force in me writing, I'd have given it up years ago. I give them away as prizes, to Little Free Libraries, to people who don't have the money right then. Most of us do. But they are ours to give, not anyone else's. If you want them to use to create something artificial with no actual purpose other than saving corporate dollars that they would normally have to pay to real people, then no. No, you may not.

Authors Guild has shared a form for authors to send their objections to META and to other AI companies. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/authors-guild-author-letters-to-ai-companies/