#stop lore.fm

[jesperfaheys-defenseattorney]

If you care about your fanfic authors at all and what they provide to you do not use lore.fm. And if you don't support AI using writing to plagiarize learn how to write, then don't support the use of the AI making audio books either. Once again, it's hurting an industry. If you want it so bad, get people to read on your app; With author permission.

[daviesroyal]

Fanfiction Update:

I know there are some cases where users can't get an account for safety or legal reasons. I'm truly sorry about that. But I'm not willing to expose my work to bad actors for exploitation just to potentially reach a few people.

I'm tired. So very tired of fending off efforts to steal work for money. Very tired of AO3 and other platforms saying "sorry, we'll do what we can within our ToS, but you gotta fight this battle on your own" and not doing anything to change and improve how they protect the creators that use their platforms in good faith.

During the lore.fm debacle (it's recently been announced that the creator is "happy to shut it down" though it's still up on the app stores. I'm waiting for the EU and other legal action already started to nuke it properly), when multiple authors were upset about their work being stolen without so much as a notice from AO3 as to what was happening, when we were talking in the r/AO3 subreddit about how AO3 hadn't made significant changes to their web security after the scrapers and bot attacks, I had a (self-declared, I didn't know how to verify and honestly wasn't willing to pick a fight about it) volunteer tell me that AO3 couldn't make those changes because they would all negatively impact the readers and "readers are just as important as authors."

(I am not going to go into a technical explanation/cybersecurity rant, suffice to say their grasp of how security measures work is... incomplete at best. They're wrong. Several measures could have been implemented with minimal impact to users overall.)

It says a lot about AO3 that they are unwilling to enhance their security to protect authors even a little bit just in case it inconveniences some readers, when this is literally how any website or software makes security decisions: you protect the most people to the best of your ability with the least amount of inconvenience. AO3 is putting convenience over protection.

The fact that a volunteer saw no issue with telling me, during all of this, that I wasn't thinking of the readers and should be making decisions about how my content is used and shared with them as a priority and shouldn't be criticizing AO3 for prioritizing the readers over the authors and their works is galling.

AO3 is supposed to be an archive, where creators can be assured their work will be safe from exploitation or censorship. If it's meant to preserve and protect works, why is it that readers are placed on equal importance? That's like saying a kid could handle the Book of Kells with sticky hands because the "reader is just as important as the author" or work.

I've not only locked my works, but also put them in an unrevealed collection. I have yet to decide whether or not I will reveal them again, or if they will eventually be taken down. AO3 as a platform (and OTW as an organization) would need to show that they're taking creators' concerns about this seriously.

This was not an easy decision for me, and I apologize to anyone out there who was waiting for an update, or marked a fic for later, or even just enjoyed rereading. I hope, one day, I'll be able to put my work up again without worry or fear.

[sprout-fics]

Just sent this e-mail to team@lore.fm

Good afternoon,

I am the owner of SproutFics on AO3 and Sprout-fics on tumblr.com. I am contacting you to opt all of my works on both tumblr and ao3 out of your lore.fm app services. I do not give consent or permission for any of my works to be used for any purposes of the Lore.fm app or any other apps created by Fadamu Nur and her team. This includes all current and future works posted under my alias of Sprout-Fics, SproutFics, and any accounts owned and operated by me.

Even if this app claims to be in compliance with AO3 user agreements, I personally find it appalling that it does not require the consent of authors to have their works copy and pasted onto a different platform. Your service should be opt-in, not opt-out. The fact that it is not shows little regard for the permissions, consent, and intention of authors for their works. I understand the desire to create accessibility for readers, but I vehemently disagree with the way this app is operated and find it extremely disrespectful to writers to not request permission to use their works.

Please respond to this email to ensure it was received, and that my works will not appear on lore.fm or any other apps created by Faduma Nur and her team. Good day.

Sprout-fics.

[millermenapologist]

Fandom friends, we have won the battle (although we definitely did not win the war).

Yesterday, I wrote this post about lore.fm, an AI scraping app that was being marketed as an accessibility tool. Now, the person that has been promoting this app decided, in the light of plenty of backlash, to backtrack and pull it down, as they "feel uncomfortable" with how authors reacted to it.

Of this video, it's very important to highlight a couple of things:

the video is 3 long minutes of guilt-tripping: she keeps repeating that her (and her team, whose existence wasn't disclosed until yesterday: this app was marketed as being a sole woman's pet project) wanted to do good and create an accessibility tool. This comes with the underlying layer that all the authors who rightfully decided to defend their creations are ableist and in the wrong. It's a manipulation tactic;

there is no acknowledgement of the fact that the app was created by a team that specifically works to create apps that generate AI stories;

there is no explanation as to where the money to fund this app is coming from, and we all know that, when you're not paying for the product, you are the product;

this is backtracking, not genuine conversation: since the other day, the videos promoting this app went viral on r/Ao3, and plenty of people began contacting team@lore.fm to ask for their works to not be included. Then, the news spread on Tumblr too. They originally thought they could get away with "legally" stealing as much material as possible, and had to cut the project short because authors were doing everything in their power to stop them. The decision to take the app off for "reassessment" doesn't come from the goodness of their hearts.

At this point of the conversation, I think it's clear that the entirety of the project was relying on the perceived naïveté of fanfic readers and writers, who are oftentimes seen and stereotyped as being silly teens and not adults with real jobs and real knowledge of the law. When they saw dozens, if not hundreds, of authors contacting them to ask their works to not be featured, some of them threatening legal consequences, they had no other choice but to backtrack.

For now, the issue is closed, but don't think it'll be forever. Know your rights, even if you're "just" a fic author, and defend yourself and your works too from these scummy companies that see us as nothing but machines that churn out material for them to steal and profit off of with no consequences.

[plainandgeneric]

Angry about Lore.fm the "AO3 Audible app"

For those who don't know, Lore.fm is an app that's advertised as "audible for AO3". It uses AI text-to-speech voices to read fics on an app completely separated from AO3 and creates a local copy of the fic audio on your device. It is stated to be non-profit.

1. It's opt-out not opt-in, that alone is a red flag and worthy of suspicion. The only way to not get your fic used without permission is to email them - it is unsafe and dubious to hand out personal email addresses to companies you don't know.

2. It takes engagement and agency away from the authors. Readers using this app don't even need to interact with the original AO3 post. Only a link is needed to generate the audio. An extension would've been significantly more ethical than an app.

3. Valid criticisms towards this project are labelled by the developer as "ableist and classist". Most devices and browsers already have FREE screen readers available. Especially for IOS (since this is mainly advertised for IOS), the existing built-in accessibility screen reader is very decent! I'd know cause I've been using it for more than a decade!

4. The developers show zero transparency. The devs listed for this app are also in a company that made an AI WRITING/STORYTELLING APP called Spinoff. The fact that this information is hidden on the appstore for Lore.fm tells me all that I need to know. I found the source for this on this comment by CupcakeBeautiful. [Edit: Unfortunately, the comment has been deleted by reddit for some reason, so I have removed the link to it.]

This whole thing pisses me off. Once again it shows that people don't respect and don't care about actual fic writers. I wish people would stop exploiting fanfiction authors under the guise of accessibility. Please think carefully if this is a company/project you'd want to support.

I don't usually post things like this on this blog, but I don't think a lot of people are aware of this situation on tumblr. Please feel free to add any information that I've missed. If this post comes off as aggressive, I apologise. I am just very frustrated.

[rivkae-winters]

Edit: the app launched and Is down- I have the initial apology video in a post here and I’m working on getting a full archive of their TikTok up ASAP. I’m letting the rest of this post remain since I do still stand by most of it and also don’t like altering things already in circulation.

Warning for criticism and what I’d consider some harsh to outright mean words:

So I’ve just been made aware of the project known of as ‘lore.fm’ and I’m not a fan for multiple reasons. For one this ‘accessibility’ tool complicates the process of essentially just using a screen reader (something native to all I phones specifically because this is a proposed IOS app) in utterly needless and inaccessible ways. From what I have been seeing on Reddit they have been shielding themselves (or fans of the project have been defending them) with this claim of being an accessibility tool as well to which is infuriating for so many reasons.

I plan to make a longer post explaining why this is a terrible idea later but I’ll keep it short for tonight with my main three criticisms and a few extras:

1. Your service requires people to copy a url for a fic then open your app then paste it into your app and click a button then wait for your audio to be prepared to use. This is needlessly complicating a process that exists on IOS already and can be done IN BROWSER using an overlay that you can fully control the placement of.

2. This is potentially killing your own fandom if it catches on with the proposed target market of xreader smut enjoyers because of only needing the link as mentioned above. You don’t have to open a fic to get a link this the author may potentially not even get any hits much less any other feedback. At least when you download a pdf you leave a hit: the download button is on the page with the fic for a reason. Fandom is a self sustaining eco system and many authors get discouraged and post less/even stop writing all together if they get low interaction.

3. Maybe we shouldn’t put something marketed as turning smut fanfic into audio books on the IOS App Store right now. Maybe with KOSA that’s a bad idea? Just maybe? Sarcasm aside we could see fan fiction be under even more legal threat if minors use this to listen to the content we know they all consume via sites like ao3 (even if we ask them not to) and are caught with it. Auditory content has historically been considered much more obscene/inappropriate than written content: this is a recipe for a disaster and more internet regulations we are trying to avoid.

I also have many issues with the fact that this is obviously redistributing fanfiction (thus violating the copyright we hold over our words and our plots) and removing control the author should have over their content and digital footprint. Then there is the fact that even though the creator on TikTok SAYS you can email to have your fic ‘excluded’ based on the way the demo works (pasting a link) I’m gonna assume that’s just to cover her ass/is utter bullshit. I know that’s harsh but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s probably a duck.

I am all for women in stem- I’ve BEEN a woman in Stem- but this is not a cool girl boss moment. This is someone naive enough to think this will go over well at best or many other things (security risks especially) at worst.

In conclusion for tonight: I hope this person is a troll but there is enough hype and enough paid for web domains that I don’t think that’s the case. There are a litany of reasons every fanfic reader and writer should be against something like this existing and I’ll outline them all in several other posts later.

Do not email their opt out email address there is no saying what is actually happening with that data and it is simply not worth the risks it could bring up. I hate treating seemingly well meaning people like potential cyber criminals but I’ve seen enough shit by now that it’s better to be safe than sorry. You’re much safer just locking all your fics to account only. I haven’t yet but I may in the future if that is the only option.

If anyone wants a screen reader tutorial and a walk through of my free favorites as well as the native IOS screen reader I can post that later as well. Sorry for the heavy content I know it’s not my normal fare.

[yinyuedijun]

what the hell is this lore.fm bullshit 😭 if someone feeds my fics into this app I will DEADASS stop writing jesus christ please do not participate in this without a writer's consent if you view fic writers as human beings even a little bit

[king-starscreams-fics]

Lore.FM: Why Did Writers Fight It?

First, what is it? Supposedly, it is an inclusive, user-friendly text-to-speech app that benefits everyone! So... anyone who opposes it is a bad person. Right?

It's not as simple as that, though the creator is painting that kind of picture on TikTok. Naturally.

If you haven't already, I recommend going on AO3 on Reddit. In particular, the following are interesting:

Let the guilt-tripping commence! If the creator is truly not guilty of any wrongdoing, why are the only comments on her TikTok (that are visible – not removed/hidden) the ones that are like the one above?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/NtFr8uK1YJ

Some writers feel so hurt, disrespected and disregarded that they feel this is the only answer. Sad, but inevitable.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/t1aU9IuQDR

More guilt-tripping from the creator! Yay!

The above video actually made me feel bad, as a writer that did not actively oppose (because everything happened so fast, from my perspective, that the app was taken down before I was informed enough to do so) Lore.FM, bad for having rights and wanting those to be taken into account.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/BTHxFmhsCX

Another one about it being shut down. Again, the discussion is interesting.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/cgVUuVLuO0

The official information... followed by the truth. Probably the most interesting read of all.

In case you don't want to go into AO3 on Reddit...

The takeaway here is that the people who want to be able to access any story they want via audio are being used as an excuse to trample authors' rights, regardless of whether they write for profit or not.

Think about the last thing you wrote. Maybe a long post, maybe an article, maybe a story.

Now imagine that it has been taken and "made available" on a platform you know nothing about. You don't get any likes, shares... there's no link to your account. How would you feel about that? What would you do?

The only way to stop it was to contact Lore and opt out. In reality, you are supposed to be approached and asked to opt in.

If you read the Reddit comments, you will see that the authors opposed the approach, not the app itself. We are discussing solutions ourselves.

[jesperfaheys-defenseattorney]

Can my followers and mutuals on tik Tok like, go cancel this bitch?

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

soooo in the mood to cry right now

the air conditioning has been broken since we have needed it this year - and if you guys remember, I was posting about how it was also broken for the hottest week of the year last year and I suffered severe symptoms of heat exhaustion because of it

the weather isn't currently as hot, but because I have POTS, I am incredibly heat intolerant, and my chronic illness has been 10x worst over the past few days because of the severe muggy heat in the house

and the general brain fog because of the heat is just getting me down because it's reminding me how much my chronic illness stops me from doing the things I want to do on a regular basis, and ... ugh.

just ugh.

this on top of the whole lore.fm thing - the general lack of respect that the flood of New Fandom people tiktok has brought. the lack of respect for writers and creators in general - I am not going to say 'content creators' - because we're fucking not. calling us 'content creators' makes us sound like we're a factory or like we make money off what we do, and 80% of us don't. and even if you do make money off fanworks or something adjacent, you still deserve respect. you don't deserve to have your work stolen and you don't deserve to have people prodding you, constantly begging for more as if you are a machine just made to pump out work.

and - like I said - I am so in the mood to cry. because I have been terribly sick all week due to the heat and I want to use fanfic as my escape, only to feel like I am not respected as a creator for the hard work that I do, and uuuuuuuuugh

[millermenapologist]

IMPORTANT NOTICE: the app has been pulled, and the creator issued an "apology." All videos advertising it are now gone too.

Fandom friends, we once again got hit by the tech bros.

In the past few days, TikTok "creator" unravel.me.now has been advertising their new app to "transform all fics into audiobooks." Fics will be fed into the app, and an AI will churn out a text-to-speech version of it.

As per the app's creator's word, this is an opt-out situation: if you're an author and don't want your work to be used this way, you have to email them (team@lore.fm), provide proof of your ownership of the Ao3 account you are asking them not to use, and sternly demand to not be included in this shitshow. If you don't do this, you are giving blanket permission to the app's creator and to its users to do of your work whatever they please.

Of note, this won't stop the wrongful usage of your works either: if a reader of yours were to upload the file of one of your stories to the app, the app will churn out an audiobook version of it anyway.

If you email them, they will get back to you saying that what they're doing is perfectly within legality and that you have no recourse against them. Do not listen to them: they are purposefully trying to intimidate you. If you were to discover that your work has been used by this app, you can easily DMCA it, on the basis that they are using content you created in a non-transformative way and are doing so without your permission.

As a last point, it should be noted that this app was created by the same business who is making money off of AI stories. The reason why they're so interested in this project is because they are scraping material and feeding it into other AI apps, and do so under the guise of accessibility, as they know it'll give them considerably much less backlash. So far, the woman who is the face of this mess has pinky-promised no material will be scraped, but considering how hollow the rest of her promises are, there is simply no way this isn't one too.

[halfdeadsage]

welcome to sage's angel cove :)

hi !! i'm sage , and welcome to my account !

my pronouns are she/they , i'm a virgo , and i'm a full-time college student so please bare with me if i'm slow in releasing new fics :)

i love writing , supernatural , f1 , and my best friend riley !

i'll be writing some fics here , which will be reader insert and with oc's i create . most of what i'll write will probably be supernatural related . i've only been in the fandom for 9 months but the show saved me from one of the darkest times in my life and i'm obsessed with it <33

i love writing angst , like it's genuinely insane how much i love writing it . i can take an adorable prompt and turn it into the most heart-wrenching thing ever (just ask riley , @rrylies) .

i hope you'll enjoy being here and feel free to leave a comment or send me a message ! i love talking to people and making new friends :)

PLEASE NOTE:

DO NOT translate or reupload my works — this includes for asmr

i DO NOT consent to my fics being fed to ai or lore.fm

information center

requests: open !

request rules:

send me anything , and if i like the prompt and am comfortable writing it i will :) my main restriction is smut , i will not write that -- i did it once and it icked me out forever . (i read smut but writing it is so awkward i just can't i'm sorry !) i also ask you not to send me requests to write incest or anything like that , and please remember to be respectful of others :) this is a safe space for anyone , and any discriminatory behavior is not allowed !! remember we are all people and deserve kindness <3

masterlist

sometimes my masterlist bugs out and the link stops working -- if so please send in an ask and let me know so i can get it fixed ! in the meantime , just search for masterlist on my account and it should pop up :)

i hope you like it here , and i can't wait to start posting more :) remember to hydrate and take care of yourselves !

[rivkae-winters]

Lore.Fm Sources for the company

For legal reasons this is all a statement of my opinion, if this phrasing confuses please see my previous post [here]

Another rapid fire post since in my opinion that is the best way to stop a company from an attempt they might make to step in and alter a narrative.

This company, of five people, are as far [this thread can figure] the group behind lore.fm.

They are on Forbes 30 under 30.

The Forbes article above also specifies that they are certified on the ethereum block chain. In my opinion and to my knowledge we in the fandom space aren't large fans of crypto currency, nfts, etc. In my opinion and based on my limited prior experience I don't trust this app, after learning this information, to not scrape data or use it to train a model. In my opinion any involvement with crypto currency or ai models makes someone untrustworthy when they enter into the fandom space as a company.