This feels like probably copyright infringement. Did the creators pay for the books? I've done my share of piracy in my day and all but authors deserve to get paid and I just can't get behind...
This feels like probably copyright infringement. Did the creators pay for the books? I've done my share of piracy in my day and all but authors deserve to get paid and I just can't get behind this.
(Alice in Wonderland the book is theoretically fair game)
But uh, Dune? The Matrix? Star Wars? They're going for the Mouse? Good luck.
Seems more like a tech demo to me, not a site intending to make money. Also being transformative from the original novels and movies I think it would fall under fair use.
Seems more like a tech demo to me, not a site intending to make money. Also being transformative from the original novels and movies I think it would fall under fair use.
I doubt it falls into fair use "transformative" doesn't cover everything. Especially feeding entire books to an AI, but if they didn't do that... it's almost more of an issue where authors aren't...
I doubt it falls into fair use "transformative" doesn't cover everything. Especially feeding entire books to an AI, but if they didn't do that... it's almost more of an issue where authors aren't going to want their works associated with poor AI generated responses. As described below.
It's telling to me that people making sites like this never have authors jumping up and down to share their books, even ones who are pro-fanfiction
I feel that the money aspect is core to so many of the problems AI brings (separate from environmental impacts). Job losses, industry upsets, copyright quagmires are all money concerns. Turning my...
I feel that the money aspect is core to so many of the problems AI brings (separate from environmental impacts). Job losses, industry upsets, copyright quagmires are all money concerns. Turning my favorite book into a game is a cool idea; making money off of it without compensation the authors is not. I suppose anyone will interpret a tool like this through the later lense because we're conditioned to think of everything as a product in a marketplace.
Separate from all of that, I'm skeptical of the fidelity of a tool like this. Books are possibly the purest form of immersive storytelling. The single slightest hallucination and the entire experience is dead to me.
At least when it comes to Dune, Frank Herbert is dead. His estate is owned by Herbert Properties LLC, which is at least comprised of his family members. But I personally feel a lot less guilty...
At least when it comes to Dune, Frank Herbert is dead. His estate is owned by Herbert Properties LLC, which is at least comprised of his family members. But I personally feel a lot less guilty about pirating when the author is dead, even if the estate still benefits their family and the IP hasn't been sold to a third party. And if it has been sold to a third party then I genuinely feel no guilt whatsoever.
Regardless of whether the author/creator is still alive or not, I suspect what @cutmetal said is true though, that this would likely fall under fair use.
That doesn't really change my feelings about it given the movie is itself a derivative of the original book series. But that's just my personal feelings on the matter.
That doesn't really change my feelings about it given the movie is itself a derivative of the original book series. But that's just my personal feelings on the matter.
Sure, I'm not using it, but it's clearly based on material under copyright either way. The Matrix is another example, or Star Wars A New Hope. I just see little benefit and the continuing argument...
Sure, I'm not using it, but it's clearly based on material under copyright either way. The Matrix is another example, or Star Wars A New Hope. I just see little benefit and the continuing argument of "it should be free because I can't make my thing work if it isn't, so it should be.". And if this is just pulling from whichever major company's work, they're actively using the training that, say, Anthropic is being sued over atm. And I just think there's a problem with that. (And I don't think it's fair use, but I'm not a lawyer. If authors were intentional participants they'd have a point but unsurprisingly authors aren't on board as far as I can see. )
For what it's worth, I do actually largely agree with you about how unethical the use of other (still alive) people's material by AI companies is. I think railing against it isn't actually going...
For what it's worth, I do actually largely agree with you about how unethical the use of other (still alive) people's material by AI companies is. I think railing against it isn't actually going to do much good at this point though, unfortunately. The genie is already out of the bottle, and I sadly doubt that any lawsuits will be able to force it back in.
Yeah, it's not as if this person is only using deceased authors' works. I follow a number of authors who who are very pro fan fiction. They started writing fan fiction or they are still writing...
Yeah, it's not as if this person is only using deceased authors' works. I follow a number of authors who who are very pro fan fiction. They started writing fan fiction or they are still writing fanfiction alongside their own original works. And I'm not talking about the ones who take their fan fiction and and scrape the serials numbers off of it and publish it but well known And well regarded science fiction/ fantasy authors. And none of them are okay with this sort of use of their works. And I think that to me is perhaps the most obvious marker that there is in fact an issue.
Copyright is fucked up especially in the US, But while my sympathies lie with people who just want to read but can't necessarily afford to buy or whose library does not have available to borrow the latest book in a series they love, or to the internet archive and the goal of just making sure that knowledge is preserved... It doesn't extend to AI companies or people who are just opposed to copyright and therefore disregarding it. If they paid for the books or had permission I might feel differently. But I sincerely doubt that Disney approved the use of Star Wars, for example
I just asked it for an adventure based on Seveneves, my current read by Neal Stephenson. It started kind of okay, but the character names are incorrect, and the main story beats are just not...
I just asked it for an adventure based on Seveneves, my current read by Neal Stephenson.
It started kind of okay, but the character names are incorrect, and the main story beats are just not there.
I suspect it's extrapolated from the blurb, or perhaps any digital copies where you get the first few pages. Could be wrong, but it seems as though there's not actually much book content here in my little adventure.
Edit: I guess it might also have scraped from reviews
This feels like probably copyright infringement. Did the creators pay for the books? I've done my share of piracy in my day and all but authors deserve to get paid and I just can't get behind this.
(Alice in Wonderland the book is theoretically fair game)
But uh, Dune? The Matrix? Star Wars? They're going for the Mouse? Good luck.
Seems more like a tech demo to me, not a site intending to make money. Also being transformative from the original novels and movies I think it would fall under fair use.
I doubt it falls into fair use "transformative" doesn't cover everything. Especially feeding entire books to an AI, but if they didn't do that... it's almost more of an issue where authors aren't going to want their works associated with poor AI generated responses. As described below.
It's telling to me that people making sites like this never have authors jumping up and down to share their books, even ones who are pro-fanfiction
I feel that the money aspect is core to so many of the problems AI brings (separate from environmental impacts). Job losses, industry upsets, copyright quagmires are all money concerns. Turning my favorite book into a game is a cool idea; making money off of it without compensation the authors is not. I suppose anyone will interpret a tool like this through the later lense because we're conditioned to think of everything as a product in a marketplace.
Separate from all of that, I'm skeptical of the fidelity of a tool like this. Books are possibly the purest form of immersive storytelling. The single slightest hallucination and the entire experience is dead to me.
Honestly, this is all I know!
At least when it comes to Dune, Frank Herbert is dead. His estate is owned by Herbert Properties LLC, which is at least comprised of his family members. But I personally feel a lot less guilty about pirating when the author is dead, even if the estate still benefits their family and the IP hasn't been sold to a third party. And if it has been sold to a third party then I genuinely feel no guilt whatsoever.
Regardless of whether the author/creator is still alive or not, I suspect what @cutmetal said is true though, that this would likely fall under fair use.
It's the movie, not the book, at least on the front page
That doesn't really change my feelings about it given the movie is itself a derivative of the original book series. But that's just my personal feelings on the matter.
Sure, I'm not using it, but it's clearly based on material under copyright either way. The Matrix is another example, or Star Wars A New Hope. I just see little benefit and the continuing argument of "it should be free because I can't make my thing work if it isn't, so it should be.". And if this is just pulling from whichever major company's work, they're actively using the training that, say, Anthropic is being sued over atm. And I just think there's a problem with that. (And I don't think it's fair use, but I'm not a lawyer. If authors were intentional participants they'd have a point but unsurprisingly authors aren't on board as far as I can see. )
For what it's worth, I do actually largely agree with you about how unethical the use of other (still alive) people's material by AI companies is. I think railing against it isn't actually going to do much good at this point though, unfortunately. The genie is already out of the bottle, and I sadly doubt that any lawsuits will be able to force it back in.
Yeah, it's not as if this person is only using deceased authors' works. I follow a number of authors who who are very pro fan fiction. They started writing fan fiction or they are still writing fanfiction alongside their own original works. And I'm not talking about the ones who take their fan fiction and and scrape the serials numbers off of it and publish it but well known And well regarded science fiction/ fantasy authors. And none of them are okay with this sort of use of their works. And I think that to me is perhaps the most obvious marker that there is in fact an issue.
Copyright is fucked up especially in the US, But while my sympathies lie with people who just want to read but can't necessarily afford to buy or whose library does not have available to borrow the latest book in a series they love, or to the internet archive and the goal of just making sure that knowledge is preserved... It doesn't extend to AI companies or people who are just opposed to copyright and therefore disregarding it. If they paid for the books or had permission I might feel differently. But I sincerely doubt that Disney approved the use of Star Wars, for example
I just asked it for an adventure based on Seveneves, my current read by Neal Stephenson.
It started kind of okay, but the character names are incorrect, and the main story beats are just not there.
I suspect it's extrapolated from the blurb, or perhaps any digital copies where you get the first few pages. Could be wrong, but it seems as though there's not actually much book content here in my little adventure.
Edit: I guess it might also have scraped from reviews