AI Update – SoA Human Authored Scheme & Don’t Steal This Book Campaign

12 March 2026

AI Update – SoA Human Authored Scheme & Don’t Steal This Book Campaign

Sam Blake

The UK Society of Authors, in partnership with the US Authors Guild, launched the UK’s first professional Human Authored Scheme at The London Book Fair March 10th 2026. This is such an important tool for all authors – do please join us in promoting and utilising the logo across your published work.

What is the Human Authored Scheme?

Human Authored is a labelling scheme that authors can join to demonstrate to readers that their books are Human Authored.

Authors who register their works must declare that they meet the definition of Human Authored. The scheme, which is administered in the Society of Authors, champions transparency, provides assurances to readers, and celebrates the enduring value of human storytelling in a digital world. In a marketplace increasingly flooded with AI‑generated books (check out Sam Fake), the Human Authored logo gives readers confidence that a work is genuinely human crafted.

Using the Human Authored logo on a cover, imprint page, or in publicity, helps authors to protect their creative labour, and offers a clear, trustworthy marker for those who value the human voice, experience and imagination. It is a way of showing that your work is genuinely created by a human. Readers can check the register of listed works.

The Human Authored mark is currently available free-of-charge to Society of Authors members, and applies to text-based work. Our aspiration is to open the scheme to illustrated works and to non-members in the future.

The launch saw a brilliant speech by Tracey Chevalier and thoughts from Umair Kazi, Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Authors Guild, plus a fabulous performance by singer songwriter, Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq and his ukulele. Listen to his song appealing to us to stop using generative AI here.

To Register and to Find Out more about Human Authored go to https://humanauthored.co.uk/

BBC Radio 4 Today Interview with Tracy Chevalier

Listen back to the BBC Radio 4 Today show where Tracy Chavalier talks about the impact of AI generated work and the impact it is having on creatives.

‘ They [AI generated books] don’t have to be labelled and since you don’t know that, we are trying to flip it and say – well if they’re not going to label it AI generated then we’re going to label ours Human Authored’

🎧 7.43am -7.48am (available to playback for a limited time) – https://bbc.com/audio/play/m002sftv –

The Guardian – March 10th

UK Society of Authors launches logo to identify books written by humans not AI
Tracy Chevalier announces registration scheme at the London Book Fair as AI works flood market

Read the article – https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/10/uk-society-authors-logo-identify-books-written-by-humans-not-ai?CMP=share_btn_url

#DontStealThisBook

The UK government must not legalise book theft to benefit AI companies

Around 10,000 authors have come together to publish an empty book protesting against the theft of books by tech companies to train AI models. 1,000 copies of the book were handed out for free from the SoA hosted Authors’ Lounge and the Publishers Assocaition stands at the 2026 London Book Fair.

AI companies are building their products by copying millions of books without permission or payment, and 88 blank pages of the book illustrates what will happen if creatives cannot get paid for their work.

The UK government is considering legalising the large-scale theft of copyrighted materials by tech companies to feed the large language models needed to train AI. We urge them to rule this out. AI companies should pay for books, like everyone else.

If they don’t, this is what we’ll be left with: empty pages, writers without pay, and readers deprived of the next book they’ll love.

Cover of Don't Steal This Book: A Plea from Authors

“The AI industry is built on stolen work – the life’s work of writers and other creatives, taken without permission or payment. This is not a victimless crime – generative AI competes with the people whose work it is trained on, robbing them of their livelihoods. The government must protect the UK’s creatives, and refuse to legalise the theft of creative work by AI companies.”
Ed Newton-Rex, organiser of the campaign

Don’t Steal This Book, hugely supported by Publishers

Find out more at: https://www.dontstealthisbook.com/

The Guardian – March 10th

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work
About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaign

Read the article – https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/10/thousands-authors-publish-empty-book-protest-ai-work-copyright?CMP=share_btn_url