Overview

• Around 100 authors, including prominent writers, protested outside Meta's London office on April 3, 2025, accusing the company of copyright infringement.
• Meta allegedly used the shadow library LibGen, containing over 7.5 million pirated books, to train its AI models without authors' consent, as revealed in court documents.
• Authors argue that Meta's actions undermine copyright protections, threaten their livelihoods, and harm the creative industry, which contributes £125 billion annually to the UK economy.
• Meta defends its practices under 'fair use' provisions, but internal documents suggest the company bypassed licensing agreements due to cost and time concerns.
• Protesters are calling on the UK government to implement stronger regulations, with over 12,000 authors signing a petition urging Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to hold Meta accountable.