This is Northumberland Calling 23.9.23

The rules exist for a reason, ignore them at your peril edition

Hello America! This is Northumberland calling.

The tote bag which formed part of my gift from my publisher, a sentiment I identify with..

Back from London and the whirl which is attending my publisher’s author day. It was a chance to meet up with fellow authors, see editors and hear what is happening in my corner of publishing.

AI stealing its way to knowledge? The Authors Guild announced its latest class action lawsuit against an AI company late on Tuesday. Basically the companies used pirated editions of books in order to train the Chat Bots and avoided paying any sort of licensing or copyright of the works in question. When I asked a question about this the senior management team said – it is safe to assume that books from this company were used and no fee was paid. For now, it is the very brave Authors Guild and the big name authors like GRR Martin, Stephen King and Elin Hildebrand who are making the running. What the future brings, time will tell. https://authorsguild.org/news/ag-and-authors-file-class-action-suit-against-openai/

There are lots of ways in which AI might prove  of use to the industry – for example being able to quickly create a rough draft of a foreign language book before the translator gets their hands on it, thus enabling the translator to work more quickly. There is a lot of nuances in translating. There are some behind the façade places such as sifting through mounds of data to discern micro trends and enabling the company to respond faster.  The one thing the entire Harlequin team are adamant about is that no AI is going to replace the authors. Human ingenuity and creativity are essential when producing a work of fiction.

 But copyright exists for a reason…

Monsters are not born but are made is the basic takeaway from the Russell Brand brouhaha. The third sex scandal in British media in under six months (Huw Edwards and Philip Scofield were the other two) . Brand’s misbehaviour dates back many years (he knew what he did and alluded to in books and interviews). It is more interesting to think how basic rules were broken and junior staff unprotected to enable his career. Tim Davie who did have something to with the BBC radio at the time said earlier this week that some of the things Brand broadcast should not have gone out. It begs the question as to why he allowed it. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/21/bbc-liz-kershaw-russell-brand-toxic-culture-witness/  or https://archive.is/PJRIx

Small changes can have big consequences. The ECHR announced they were altering their technical advice on school bathrooms and what could constitute direct discrimination for schools in regards to wishes to alter gender. The guidance has been in existence since 2014 and the ECHR now accepts it was wrong. The Times’ take: Schools must provide changing rooms for pupils based on sex at birth (thetimes.co.uk) or https://archive.is/Sc1qF The actual guidance: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/technical-guidance-schools-englan

The NHS also issued updated guidance on how schools should not transition children without parental guidance as it is a very complex matter.  There are appropriate avenues to explore if teachers have safeguarding concerns, but the process is complex and parents are best involved. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/21/parents-should-know-if-school-pupils-socially-transition-says-nhs-england

The Department of Education’s own guidance remains a work in progress and will be issued at some point.

Perhaps the news in the Telegraph about how many productive hours have been lost to DEI workshops provides a clue about why the guidance is taking so long to be issued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/22/radical-ideology-gender-race-civil-servants-lgbtq-trans/ or https://archive.is/7h775

Apologies all around. The Arts Council England have finally issued a formal apology for the way they treated their Gender Critical employee. They failed to follow the law that the holding of gender critical beliefs is an acceptable position in a democratic society. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/arts-council-apologises-to-denise-fahmy-over-harassment-for-trans-views-5njftk79c  or https://archive.is/hNvBG

Finally Paddy has been learning to swim. He spent his first lesson being afraid to dip his toes in the water but today with a slight push and lots of encouragement, he was able to do laps

Paddy in lifejacket with swimming instructor staring longingly at the rubber duck.

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