In the United Kingdom, more than 10,000 writers published a “blank” book in protest against artificial intelligence companies using their work without permission. About this He writes The Guardian.
The title of the book was “Don’t Steal This Book” (“Don’t Steal This Book”). Its only content is a list of authors. Among those who participated in writing the book are the English television broadcaster and writer, author of the novel “Thursday Murder Club,” Richard Osman, the author of the novel “The Other Boleyn Girl,” Philippa Gregory, as well as the Nobel Prize winner in Literature, the British writer Kazuo Ishiguro.
Copies of the book will be distributed to visitors to the London Book Fair, which opened on March 10. Ed Newton Rix, the project’s organizer, composer and copyright activist, said the AI industry “is built on stolen works taken without permission or compensation.”
“This is not a victimless crime, as creative AI competes with the people it learns from for their jobs, depriving them of their livelihoods,” he says. “The government must protect UK creatives and stop legitimizing the theft of creative works by AI companies.”
A year ago, in February 2025, more than a thousand musicians, including Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, and Kate Bush, released a joint silent album to protest the British government’s plans to allow artificial intelligence developers to use copyrighted works. The album is called “Is This What We Want?” (“Is this what we want?”). It contains 12 songs with a total duration of 47 minutes. They are recordings of either complete silence or some noise coming from concert halls and studios.
The UK government has long been considering amendments that would, if approved, allow companies developing artificial intelligence to use artwork available online, including music, without respecting copyright. Copyright holders of works were supposed to have the right to block the use of their work, but critics of the bill said there would be no way for a writer, artist or musician to notify thousands of different AI companies that they did not want their work used in that way.
Early March 2026 Financial Times booksthe UK government has indefinitely postponed consideration of changes to copyright laws that would make it easier for AI companies to use works of art and media content.