Sandra Harzer-Kux, the publisher at Carlsen Verlag, has urged readers not to generate stories based on their favorite books using artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking to “Die Zeit,” she advised, “Please do not prompt your favorite characters with a bot.” While she understands that parents using these tools for private amusement, she does not blame them. However, she points out that many people are unaware they might be infringing on copyrights and effectively allowing the creatives behind the books to be “stolen from.”
Carlsen Verlag alleges that the US company OpenAI used the animated book “Das Neinhorn” (“The Hornless Deer”) to train its AI. Harzer-Kux stated, “We must assume that the chatbot was trained using our works, including the illustrations and the texts.” The publisher is actively and regularly looking for copyright infringement, even by asking AI systems to generate stories. For instance, they had ChatGPT asked to narrate a story about “Das Neinhorn”. The resulting responses were “very, very similar” to the original content; furthermore, the AI-generated cover imitated the style of the original artwork, even replicating the author and publisher names. “It is shocking how precise the illustrations have become,” Harzer-Kux remarked, adding, “Overall, this damages our entire industry.”
Last Wednesday, the children’s and youth book publisher announced that it had filed a lawsuit against OpenAI at the Munich Regional Court. This action was joint with author Marc-Uwe Kling and illustrator Astrid Henn. Harzer-Kux confirmed that they had previously requested written information and a cease-and-desist order from the AI company. “They did provide a response, but in our view, it was entirely unsatisfactory,” the Carlsen publisher noted.
