Stolen Stories and Hidden Histories

Meta steals IP. A WWII operation of deception. Upcoming fiction.

Lauren Elizabeth

Mar 31, 2025

Dear Look on the Write Side-ers,

Welcome back! Today, we’ve got a chunky newsletter. We’re talking about:

Meta stealing intellectual property to train AI
A non-fiction book
A movie and the true story it was based on
Two podcasts - trigger warning
What’s coming soon to Look on the Write Side

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Meta Steals IP, Again

The big news in the publishing world over the past two weeks is the revelation of the authors whose work was stolen by Meta to train their AI. For me, the biggest problem isn’t that they used intellectual property (IP) to train their AI, it’s that they didn’t ask the owners of the IP for permission. Though it doesn’t sit well with me that they have stolen IP with the intention of creating something that will be used to take the jobs of those whose IP they stole.

This isn’t the first time that Meta have used IP without permission, and I doubt it will be the last. They did this because they could. The money they will make from their AI will likely be far more than what it would cost them if they are found responsible in the lawsuits filed against them. It’s merely pocket change for the billionaire Zuckerberg. But for those authors, it’s their livelihood.

I’ve been following this story closely and I have put together this little reading list of articles and posts I’ve found particularly good.

Emma Gannon talks about her experiences with IP.
Australian author Bri Lee had her books stolen.
This ABC article discusses the theft, and interviews Australian authors whose work was stolen, including Hannah Kent and Sophie Cunningham.
The Atlantic have created this database of work that has been stolen.
Jaclyn Westlake talks about her work being stolen by Meta.

Weekly Roundup

What I’ve been reading:

Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands and Forests by Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham

This book is a great introductory text to the folklore of woodlands and forests and is one in a collection of five Treasury of Folklore books. The authors are the creators of the popular #FolkloreThursday. It’s split into three parts: Into the Trees, Woodland Creatures, and Folk of the Forest. The first section provides an overview on how woodlands, forests, and the trees themselves are used in folklore and fairy tales, providing specific examples throughout. The second section focuses on the folklore creatures that dwell in the woods. Finally, the third section introduces the folklore characters of the forest.

What I like most about the book is that it doesn’t take a Eurocentric approach to folklore, and it introduces readers to the folklore, creatures, and characters often overlooked. The Moss People were a particular favourite of mine.

This book is aimed as an introduction and not as a deep dive into the folklore of woodlands and forests. Having said this, the content is considerably well researched and highly thought-provoking.

I can’t forget to mention that this book is one of the most beautiful that I have on my bookshelf.

Read if you enjoy learning about folklore.

What I’ve been watching:

Operation Mincemeat is set in WWII London and follows the intricate plot that aimed to deceive Hitler about where the Allied forces would land - Sicily or Greece. It was a good movie with a fantastic cast. It left me thinking about how significant, history-altering contributions can go unnoticed and those who made the contributions can be written out of our history books. Of course, it’s unsurprising that history (or the people who write it) often forget those it deems unimportant.

Something that struck me as particularly significant (not a spoiler) was how the identity of the person whose deceased body was so integral to the operation was not publicly confirmed until 1997 by the British Government. Operation Mincemeat occurred in 1943. WWII ended in 1945. So why did it take so long for “Major William Martin” to be confirmed as Glyndwr Michael? Surely there was no need to hide his true identity once the war was over.

I think the answer lies in who he was, or at least how society viewed who he was. Glyndwr Michael was born in Wales. He died in London. He was homeless. It has also been suggested that Michael was living with a mental illness, though it is difficult to assess the validity of this given how little we know of the man.

There is debate over whether permission was given to use his body after he died. In The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu, one of the people behind Operation Mincemeat, it is claimed permission was granted. However, historians have disputed this as Michael’s parents were deceased at the time of his death, thus they could not have given permission and there is no evidence that another relative did either. There is also debate over the manner of his death, whether he consumed rat poison on purpose or by accident.

The movie was a good watch. Not everything was accurate and there were some liberties taken. I will never understand why the movie-making-machine feels the need to alter a true story, particularly one that is already as interesting as this is. But the fiction hidden amongst the fact did not detract in this case. Though it didn’t add anything either.

What I’ve been listening to:

*Trigger warning for both podcasts discussed in this section - violence, torture, sexual abuse, slavery, kidnapping, and coercive control.

Scammerland is an investigation into criminal scam enterprises. It is a fantastic piece of investigative journalism, and we hear from multiple victims of the scam enterprises. Small Q is a Ugandan man who was promised a job and the hope of a better future, but instead he was forced into slavery working for a scam factory in Myanmar. Cateleya (pseudonym) is a Filipino mother who is sold into slavery by her own friend. Troy is an American man who was scammed out of a significant amount of money by scammers in Myanmar.

It provides a different perspective into scams. I’ve never considered the person on the other end of a scam call to be anything other than a criminal trying to extort money from me. But this podcast demonstrates that the criminals are not the people on the other end of the phone, rather they are also victims of a larger criminal network. Of course, this isn’t the case for every scam call, but the sheer vastness of these scam networks is horrifying.

If you’re interested, you can also read about scam factories on The Conversation Australia.

I listened to Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman about a month ago and I’ve had a lot of thoughts since. None more so than disgust towards an author that I had previously admired. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I’m surprised. If someone had told me about this five plus years ago, I might have been surprised then. But we have seen so many of these stories come to light in recent years, that I find little surprises me anymore. Though I wasn’t surprised by the allegations, the details of the experiences of these women are horrific and shocking.

Odds and sods:

The Woman in the Wallpaper by Lora Jones has recently been released. I’ve just purchased my copy and will report back once I’ve read it.
The Australian Federal election has been set for the 3rd of May. The Conversation have created this policy tracker to help people understand what they’re voting for.

Coming Soon

On Friday, I’ll be sharing new micro fiction with everyone. It’s inspired by a collective noun!

Soon, I’ll be releasing a new story called Waking House, which will be released in multiple parts. All subscribers will have access to part one, but only paid subscribers will have access to the rest. I’m currently offering 20% off of subscriptions in perpetuity. More news on this series next week.

Get 20% off forever

I’m also working on a piece of fiction that is part of a collaboration. It will be released at the end of April.

I hope you have a magical week.