Latest updates · 21 October 2026
In the full issue →Publishing is still wrestling with AI: authors are filing individual lawsuits against Meta over training on their books, and agents and publishers are struggling to decide how much AI assistance is too much.
Research, industry & policy
- Meta sued by hundreds of authors in AI training copyright cases, Bloomberg Law · 20 Oct 2026: The suits in the Northern District of California are individual claims rather than a class action, and the two law firms behind them plan to file for close to 1,000 more authors in the coming months.
- AI (still) has the publishing industry in a tizzy, Marketplace · 20 Oct 2026: Publishing journalist Jane Friedman says publishers and agents are struggling with what percentage of AI assistance crosses the line into financial risk.
Conferences, workshops & events
- AI and the Future of Storytelling, 7 Nov 2026 · Coquitlam, BC (City Centre Library): Festival session on AI and storytelling.
- Intelligence Humanities: Authorship, Auctoritas, and Generative AI, 19 Nov 2026 · Evanston (Northwestern University, Kresge Hall): All-day humanities event on authorship and generative AI.
Why it matters
Courts and contracts, not just technology, will decide how AI and books coexist.
