Proposed Tariffs Make Strange Bedfellows

The Canadian Independent Booksellers’ Association has partnered with Canadian bookselling giant, Indigo? This is a sentence that very few Canadians would have ever expected to read but the new tariffs on products from the United States would affect books. CIBA and Indigo CEO, Heather Reisman, have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney requesting that books be excluded from tariffs. 

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Zombie Flies

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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Horror Story Inspirations: Authors All Students Should Know

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A Stolen Livelihood – LibGen, Meta, and The Atlantic

Like many authors, the ongoing battle against AI has been at the forefront of my mind. In the UK, the focus has been very much on the direction our government appears to be taking towards allowing access to copyrighted materials for AI training. The onus it seems will be on the creator—whether musician, author, or artist—to opt out. The White Paper consultation, which closed in February of this year, can be read in full here. The message overall is that whilst the creator should be able to reserve their rights so that AI cannot be trained on their output, the rights of the AI industry are given an equivalence and must be supported. In fact if you look at the government’s position it seems to favour AI at the expense of the creative sector: despite the responses from the likes of the BBC, The Information Commissioner’s Office, authors, artists, and musicians (who marked their protest with the silent album ‘Is This What We Want’ consisting of recordings of empty studios).

But all this discussion and consultation strikes me as pretty much pointless when the industries using AI are simply going ahead and scraping data before the copyright discussion has been settled legally. This hit home when I spotted a series of posts by a huge number of authors who had found their work on the LibGen Pirated* Books database. US magazine The Atlantic had provided the link. The latter is currently carrying out an investigation into the data set used by Meta to train its AI. It provides the database link here. Are you in there?

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