Indie Publishers Form Adepia to Sue AI Firms Over Pirated Books

About ten independent publishers are organizing to sue AI companies they accuse of training models on pirated books. Livres Hebdo reported the plan on November 3. The group, still being formed, is called Adepia, the Association des éditeurs contre le pillage des IA. The houses are French. The first formal notices are expected before the end of the year.

Livres Hebdo named the houses as Nouveau Monde éditions, La Volte, Aux forges de Vulcain, Maurice Nadeau, Artège, Desclée de Brouwer, Le Rocher, Champ Vallon, Rue de l'échiquier and Emmanuelle Collas éditions.

Where it came from

The project follows a February 2 column by Yannick Dehée, P-DG of Nouveau Monde éditions and president of the association, Livres Hebdo reported. The column came after a Mediapart investigation into a cofounder of Mistral AI. Livres Hebdo described that cofounder as someone who, while working at Meta, was said to have pirated millions of books. The column's line, quoted by the magazine, was "Mistral AI doit indemniser les auteurs et éditeurs français qu'elle a piratés".

How a case would work

The association will not go to court in its own name. Each publisher gives a mandate to the lawyer Maïa Kantor, of the firm Kantor, a specialist in publishing, audiovisual and art-market law. Each house signs a separate letter of engagement for each action against each AI company, and each house stays free to join a given case or to stay out, Livres Hebdo reported.

Negotiated fees are "très raisonnables", with a share of the results. In return, members turn over 20 percent of any damages they receive to a common fund for later cases, Livres Hebdo reported. They pool what they know. If a company settles, the association wants the same terms for everyone. Dehée told the magazine: "Une fois qu'on est dans l'association, on est solidaire les uns des autres." He added: "On n'accepte pas des petits arrangements à côté". The point, Livres Hebdo wrote, is that houses with no legal department can hand the work to someone who does it.

The deadline

The calendar is set by the statute of limitations. Under the civil code, a claim expires five years from "de la connaissance des faits", Livres Hebdo noted. Most of the filling of databases such as LibGen dates to 2021, with some titles online from 2020, so the first notices go out before the end of this year in order to act before 2027, the magazine reported. Dehée's warning was "Plus on attend, plus on décale les premières actions". A case would be expected to last two to three years. The association hopes for negotiated deals from 2027, which would leave more room to move.

Mistral, and a bill

In the October 29 issue of Challenges, Guillaume Lample, cofounder and scientific director of Mistral, said "à l'époque, cette technologie n'intéressait pas le grand public et ne produisait pas de valeur", Livres Hebdo reported. He added that things have changed and that Mistral now takes time to talk with publishers and to license data. Dehée's reply, as the magazine gave it, is that Mistral cannot "à la fois avoir des discussions avec des grands groupes et nous dire d'aller nous faire voir".

Adepia is meant to sit beside the Syndicat national de l'édition, which is engaged against Meta. It will not sue the American group, and it is exchanging information with the union. Dehée said methods for proving the use of the books, which he called "très intéressantes", are being put in place.

Other houses are hanging back, because they feel they lack the legal skill or the money. Dehée acknowledged that some members have "des moyens minuscules".

A separate, cross-party bill on a presumption that AI providers have used cultural works is due back before deputies in the Assemblée nationale on November 19, during the groupe socialiste's niche parlementaire, Livres Hebdo reported. Senators Laure Darcos and Agnès Evren and Senator Pierre Ouzoulias are carrying it. The Senate adopted it on first reading last spring. The Gauche démocrate et républicaine group had it on the Assembly agenda in June, and it was not passed.

For an independent publisher, the news is a joint way to bring cases. Livres Hebdo described formal notices still to come, before the year ends, and a five-year clock the houses say is already running.