'Don't Steal This Book': Thousands Of Authors Release 'Empty' Book At London Book Fair In Protest Against AI

Around 10,000 authors, including high-profile writers like Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory, and Richard Osman, have published a "mostly empty" book titled 'Don't Steal This Book' in a bold protest against generative AI companies. The book contains no narrative text -- its only content is a list of the names of the thousands of authors participating. The book, as per the authors, serves as a visual representation of what the literary world might look like if AI continues to use copyrighted works without permission or compensation.

The campaign specifically targets a proposed UK government "commercial research exception" that would allow AI firms to train models on copyrighted books without author consent or payment. Authors have voiced their anger over the possible changes to copyright law, warning that such policies could harm creative industries.

"The UK government must not legalise book theft to benefit AI companies," reads the back cover of the book that is being distributed to attendees at this year's London Book Fair. This year's book fair takes place from 10 to 12 March.

The campaign was organized by Ed Newton-Rex, a composer and copyright activist who told the Guardian that the AI industry is "built on stolen work." "This is not a victimless crime – generative AI competes with the people whose work it is trained on, robbing them of their livelihoods. The government must protect the UK's creatives and refuse to legalise the theft of creative work by AI companies," he added. 

Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies.

The UK government is considering upending copyright law to benefit AI companies. Don't Steal This Book urges them not to.

Apart… pic.twitter.com/ttw368RJbp

— Ed Newton-Rex (@ednewtonrex) March 10, 2026

Other notable names include Malorie Blackman, Jeanette Winterson, Mick Herron, Kate Mosse, and Alan Moore. Musicians like Elton John have also voiced support for the cause, while criticising potential relaxations in copyright law. 

You can read the full list of authors involved on dontstealthisbook.com.

The website states, "AI companies are building their products by copying millions of books without permission or payment. The UK government is considering legalising this large-scale theft. We urge them to rule this out. AI companies should pay for books, like everyone else."

The statement adds: "If they don't, this is what we'll be left with: empty pages, writers without pay, and readers deprived of the next book they'll love."

Notably, artificial intelligence systems require massive amounts of data to train tools such as chatbots and image generators. Much of this data is scraped from the open web and can include copyright-protected material, which has raised concerns among artists, writers, and media companies around the world. 

Last year, AI company Anthropic, the developer of the Claude chatbot, agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by authors. The writers had alleged that the startup used pirated versions of their books to train its flagship AI system.