South Korean publishers launch 'No Books, No AI' appeal demanding training-data disclosure and fair compensation

What happened

The Korean Publishers Society has drafted a "national appeal" titled "No Books, No AI," calling for fair compensation and accountability for AI training on published works. As of October 16, 2026, it had been signed by 158 organizations and 321 individuals, including novelists Kim Nam-il and Kim Yi-jeong, poets Na Hee-duk and Ryu Keun, and translator Hong Han-byeol. The group plans to deliver the appeal to the Korean government, the National Assembly, and AI companies.

What the appeal demands

The appeal rests on the principle that disclosure is where accountability begins: AI companies must record which works they trained on, their sources, and the legal basis for use, and rights holders must be able to verify this. It states that silence must never be treated as consent, and that small presses and individual creators with weak bargaining power must be able to negotiate on fair terms. It also warns the government and National Assembly not to restrict creators' rights in the name of fostering industry.

Context

The appeal follows reporting that Anthropic illegally downloaded works by Korean authors (including Han Kang, Hwang Sok-yong, and Shin Kyung-sook) and subsequently bought an estimated 250,000-300,000 Korean-language books through distributor Woongjin Booxen, in the wake of the $1.5 billion Bartz v. Anthropic settlement (final approval July 20, 2026). It also echoes the Frankfurt Declaration, issued October 6, 2026 by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association with some 120 publishers, urging the EU to mandate disclosure of training data and establish fair licensing frameworks.