Maureen Johnson Shares a "Rough and Ready Alarm" About AI and Publishing...

Check out this Maureen Johnson Instagram post from Thursday Jul 13, 2023. In it, she shares that a well-known author working with a big publisher reached out to tell her that their contract currently in negotiation is hung up over AI. 

As Maureen tells us that author said:

"because they're trying to put AI in my contract that says my work can be taken and fed to a program... to basically spit out more of this person's stuff -- without that person being involved."

Then, Maureen says,

"Authors, it's here. We knew it was coming, but it's actually here. And this is the moment."

Maureen connects this to the SAG Actors Union strike, as one of the issues they're fighting is the use of their "forever image" even though they're just getting paid for just one day's work... As SAG Actor Billy Minshall put it on his Instagram, 

"...If I accept a job as a background performer for a single day, the powers that be want to pay me for that one day (less than $200), scan my face and use my likeness in perpetuity without additional compensation. Come on now. You can do better than that."

As Maureen says, we authors need to talk - to our agents, to our editors, and to each other. We need to know what it means if AI is in our contracts, and what it means if it's not in our contracts.

And what's really telling is that an author with a lot of clout, and their agent, can push back -- but what about creators who aren't in that position? Like the actors, and writers of Hollywood, we need to come to solutions about this together. 

Illustrate and Translate and Write On,
Lee