Write to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP here
Recent developments in AI pose a significant threat to writers’ work and earnings and we have been working hard to stay ahead of rapidly changing developments to ensure writers’ rights are at the forefront of employers’ and policy-makers’ minds, and to provide guidance to our members.
Find out more about our work in this area, including advice and guidance we have issued for writers, below.
What we have been doing
- We responded to the Government’s consultation on copyright and AI and thanks to all our many members who did too and took part in campaigning around the Government’s preferred ‘opt-out’ model, which we strongly opposed. The Government has now rowed back on this, in a report published in March 2026. WGGB General Secretary Ellie Peers said that this development represented a “win for collective action” and you can find out more here.
- Read our manifesto Putting writers at the heart of the story which has recommendations on copyright and AI
- Read our policy position statement Writers and AI
- We supported the #DontStealThisBook campaign signed by thousands of authors and distributed at the London Book Fair in March 2026.
- We attended the Creators Emergency Summit in London in March 2026 to discuss the impact of AI on creators and ways forward to protect their rights and livelihoods.
- We responded to the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee’s report on AI, copyright and the creative industries in March 2026. You can read our response here.
- WGGB and our members supported action around the Data (Use and Access) Bill in 2025, including an amendment on transparency proposed by Baroness Kidron. Our members protested outside Parliament in support of amendments to the Data Bill (read more here) and we also signed an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The Bill has now received Royal Assent.
- WGGB took part in expert working group meetings hosted by the Government in September 2025 which included representatives of the creative and AI sectors.
- Watch a video of WGGB delegate Aisha Josiah at TUC Women’s Conference 2025, speaking in support of the motion ‘Women creative workers and generative AI’.
Advice and guidance for writers
- Read our update on the Anthropic case and access the searchable settlement website here.
- Read the advice we issued to authors who found their work in the LibGen database of pirated work used by Meta to train AI, and find out about the joint letter we delivered to Meta here
- Read our guideline Using AI as a research and writing tool – the risks
- Read our guide My book has been used to ‘train’ AI – what can I do?
- Read our guide What writers need to know about Meta’s new privacy policy
- Read our guideline Don’t let Grok use your data!
- Read our response to Audible’s AI plans
- Read our statement on WeTransfer and AI
Letters we have signed
- Read the letter we wrote to ITV over their proposed Head of Generative AI role
- Read the letter we signed to software developers as part of the Creators’ Rights Alliance
- Ahead of the US State visit in September 2025, WGGB signed an open letter demanding the Government explain its failure to protect the rights of UK copyright holders.