Writers protest at Meta’s Amsterdam office and prepare court case over AI training

Around 150 writers, journalists and translators protested on the morning of Tuesday 29 September outside the Pakhuis in Amsterdam, where Meta has its office.

They chanted “I want my words back”, and one sign read “No AI without our work”.

They are angry that their texts are being used without permission to train AI language models, and they want transparency, fair payment and a say in how their work is used.

Protesters called it “plain theft of our livelihood”.

The Auteursbond, Stichting Lira and the NVJ organised the protest and want big tech companies to be open about how they train their models.

In Meta’s case that means its Llama language models. The organisers say Meta trains them on illegal data sources known as shadow libraries.

“We have no idea what else happens with our texts, we get no payment for it, and it is time Meta accounted for that,” said author and translator Maria Postema.

Writer Gustaaf Peek put it this way: “We are real people, we made real things.

And those real things have been nicked by a very big, powerful, almost monopolistic company.”

Collective lawsuit against Meta

The organisers had already asked Meta to stop using their texts unlawfully, but that did not resolve anything.

The protest marked the start of a collective legal case that the three organisations are bringing against Meta.

“You don’t leave your front door open and say: come on in, take everything.

So we’re not saying that either,” said Liesbet van Zoonen of the Auteursbond.

“It simply has to stop, and you can’t just let this happen to you.”

In the upcoming case, they will ask the court to rule that training AI language models on works from shadow libraries is not allowed.

They also want the court to bar Meta from offering AI models that were trained partly in that way.

Writers fear for their income

Beyond the unauthorised use of their work, writers are also worried about their earnings.

Journalist Annette Wisman carried a sign reading “Shame on you, kleptomaniac nitwits!” She said one of her clients began working heavily with AI and asked her to make changes based on suggestions from ChatGPT.

After a while, the client started doing more and more of the work itself.

If the case raises questions about your own rights as a writer, you can find a lawyer in Amsterdam through our directory.

Source: AT5