We, as writers, have it tough enough. Depending on the writing we do, we work for hours, days, even years to bring to light a single article, screenplay, book. Only to have them stolen by piracy sites like LibGen and others. And now of course, Mark Zuckerberg (for Meta), is the most recent subject of a class action suit regarding the theft of authors’ hard work, for the purposes of training Artificial Intelligence.
In essence, the pirated work has infringed on copyright and taken money directly from our pockets, and will continue to do so, because as you will see in the articles below (links attached), despite court rulings and settlements, not a cent is being received from the criminals. Please read these articles, share them, search for others—because they abound.
The Atlantic article includes a link where you can check to see if your work has been stolen. Mine has. EVERY SINGLE THING I have written using my pen names (but fortunately not my own name) has been pirated except, as of now, the last three books in the Shadow Journey series. The pirated works even include the translations for Once and Always in France and Germany. I cannot stress how upset I am. This represents far more than a million words of my own, let alone the words of so many other writers. In addition, the articles indicate some of our efforts are even being spewed out in slightly different ways as “new content.”
NOTE: There are two search tool links in the Atlantic article, one for book authors, and the other for movie and television.
To be honest, it makes me want to give up writing altogether. I’m hoping I’ll get over that.
If you’re a self-published author, please take the step to register your work with the copyright office. Yes, it costs money, but it’s a safeguard you deserve. If you are traditionally published, your publisher should register on your behalf. I am getting ready to double check with mine.
After searching for your name/pen name to see if you, too, have been pirated, directly below is a screenshot sent to me by my son. It shows the contact information for two law firms involved in the current class action suit. I will be doing so shortly.
Good luck everyone. We’re going to need it.
Robin
PC Magazine https://www.pcmag.com/news/judge-allows-authors-ai-copyright-case-against-meta-to-proceed
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robin maderich - write-brained scribbler and crafter-on-the-loose 
You should post con FB also
Maybe you did already?
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I placed a link to this blog on FB plus prompted authors to read it. It pertains to all who count on the written word to make their living (no matter how little they make), whether it’s articles, books (both fiction and non-fiction), screenwriters, etc. If you go to Facebook to my page, you can share it.
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