AI-Generated Fake Sequels Sold Without Author Consent on Kindle
Fake e-books purporting to be sequels to novels by Japanese mystery writer Ayatsuji Yukito and writer Atzukawa Tatsumi were sold on Amazon's Kindle store. The works were reportedly created using generative AI trained on the authors' existing novels without consent, and were removed after deletion requests by publisher Kodansha.
What happened
Two fake e-books titled 'Zoku Jukakkukan no Satsujin' (Sequel to Decagon House Murder) and 'Jukakkukan no Saitai' (Decagon House Revisited) were sold on Amazon's Kindle store. The books appeared to be sequels to mystery writer Ayatsuji Yukito's debut novel 'Jukakkukan no Satsujin' and bore cover images mimicking artwork by comic artist Yoshikuni Masahiko, who designed the original book's cover.
A second set of fake e-books claiming to be sequels to 'Aokaikukan no Satsujin' by writer Atzukawa Tatsumi were also sold on Kindle under the author name 'Atzukawa'. Both sets of books were removed from the platform after deletion requests were made.
Reported impact
The unauthorized books could mislead consumers into purchasing content they believed was written by the original authors. Ayatsuji Yukito stated the books were created with generative AI without her knowledge, and publisher Kodansha confirmed the works appeared to be created by training an AI system on the original novel.
Governance controls
Kodansha made deletion requests to Amazon, and both affected books were removed from the Kindle store. Kodansha stated it would continue to handle similar cases with strict measures.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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