Gunai writer Kirli Saunders has accused Meta of taking her award-winning book Bindi without permission to train its artificial intelligence model, calling the act a violation of Indigenous rights and cultural integrity.
Saunders said she was “disgusted” to learn that her book had been sourced from the online database LibGen and used without her consent or compensation. Bindi was among 37 First Nations titles published by Indigenous publishing house Magabala Books that were reportedly taken for AI training purposes.
Magabala Books chief executive Lilly Brown warned that the unchecked development of artificial intelligence poses a serious threat to Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). She stressed that many of the works taken are deeply personal, representing generations of cultural knowledge and storytelling.
“This kind of history of First Nations knowledge and stories being stolen by non-Aboriginal people and corporations is nothing new,” Brown said, highlighting the long-standing pattern of exploitation.
Saunders echoed those concerns, saying the use of her work without permission amounted to a form of “double colonisation.” She explained that without strong copyright protections and enforceable guardrails, Indigenous creators risk having their stories stolen again, this time in the digital age.
Both Saunders and Brown have called for ICIP to be placed at the center of AI policy discussions, ensuring that Indigenous voices are heard and respected in the development of new technologies. They argue that protecting cultural works is not only a matter of intellectual property but also of safeguarding identity, heritage, and sovereignty.
The controversy has sparked wider debate about how AI companies source their training data and the ethical responsibilities they hold toward creators, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. Advocates say the case underscores the urgent need for clearer regulations, transparency, and accountability in the rapidly expanding AI industry.
tags: Kirli Saunders Meta AI, Bindi book AI training, Magabala Books Indigenous rights, Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property AI, Meta accused of stealing Indigenous works, First Nations authors AI exploitation, double colonisation Indigenous stories, AI copyright ethics, Meta Indigenous controversy, Kirli Saunders cultural protection
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