Amazon has reportedly removed several “garbage books” falsely attributed to real authors, believed to be churned out using generative AI, after initially refusing to do so. It took a public backlash from authors and organizations for the tech giant to remove the bogus books from its website.
Decrypt reports that when professor Jane Friedman discovered books she didn’t write being attributed to her on Amazon, she was met with initial resistance from the e-commerce giant, which did not want to remove the bogus titles from sale. The titles, which Friedman referred to as “garbage books,” were likely created using generative AI and included guides like “Your Guide to Writing a Bestseller eBook on Amazon,” “Publishing Power: Navigating Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing,” and “Promote to Prosper: Strategies to Skyrocket Your eBook Sales on Amazon.”
Jeff Bezos/Instagram
ROMEOVILLE, IL – AUGUST 01: Workers pack and ship customer orders at the 750,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center on August 1, 2017 in Romeoville, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Friedman’s complaints to Amazon was initially met with a refusal to remove the listings, as she could not prove that she owned the trademark on her own name. Friedman claimed that after admitting she was unable to demonstrate her ownership of the trademark for her own name, Amazon told her that the books will still be available for purchase.
However, the tech giant’s stance changed dramatically after Friedman took her case to Twitter, wich caught the attention of the Authors Guild. Late Monday night, the books began disappearing from Amazon’s website, and an Amazon spokesperson stated, “We have clear content guidelines governing which books can be listed for sale and promptly investigate any book when a concern is raised. We welcome author feedback and work directly with authors to address any issues they raise and where we have made an error, we correct it.”
@JaneFriedman As a member of the Authors Guild, we can advocate on your behalf and are reaching out to senior management immediately to let them know that these works are an attempt to trade off your brand and must be removed as infringements of the Lanham Act.
— The Authors Guild (@AuthorsGuild) August 7, 2023
The incident has brought to light similar experiences from other authors. Author and poet Hattie Jean Hayes shared her experience, stating, “I have had someone using my name to publish erotica on Amazon [Kindle Direct Publishing] for the last three years. It’s pretty clearly a targeted attack since they’ve used names of my (minor!) family members in the stories.”
The Authors Guild has expressed concern over the issue and is actively working with Amazon to address it. “We’ve worked with Amazon on this issue in the past, and we will continue our conversations with them about advancing their efforts to keep up with the technology,” the Author’s Guild said in a statement.
The resolution of Friedman’s case has been seen as a victory, but concerns remain about the ability of other authors to raise similar issues. Friedman herself expressed her ongoing concern, tweeting, “As of this morning, the books appear to have been removed from Amazon. How long until it happens again? What about authors who don’t have the ability to raise a big red flag like I do?”
Read more at Decrypt here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan