#ao3 scraping

[ofishal-fish-posts]

Not to get personal, but I'm actually going to cry maybe. I have over 200 works on Ao3. Over 100k words. And it's been stolen multiple times in the past few days.

I hate it here.

[absentfather]

All my fanfics from "X" to older have been scrapped for ai. I'm actually fuming, because not only is this my fanfictions I've written (which is still my writing, even if it's based on already existing media) but this includes multiple of my original works with my oc's and even a fanfic I wrote for someone involving their own oc's. As an artist, I already hate ai with a passion, but to see an ao3 user do this to others in the same community (Without the consent of ao3 itself, btw), feels like a punch in the face.

[cakes-are-great]

I just found out that all of my fucking ao3 fics were scraped to train a fucking ai. I had no clue until I saw a TikTok talking about it.

I did some digging, and if you want to check to see if your fics was scraped as well, if it has an ID number above 63 200 000, then you are safe. If it was locked or restricted, you’re most likely safe as well.

All of my works will be restricted for the time being, I know ao3 is filing a DMCA takedown for the person responsible but I don’t have much hope.

"Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made." - J. R. R. Tolkien

[rueckenfigur-i-am]

The Washington Post has an article called „Inside the secret list of websites that make AI like ChatGPT sound smart“

AO3 is #516 on the list, meaning the 516th largest item in the tokens of the dataset.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/ai-chatbot-learning/

[oceangirl24]

reading about the bastard nyuuzyou and their counter arguments and realizing that sometimes it's valid to wish death and harm on other people :D

I'm going to be completely honest here, I disagree.

It is frustrating, heartbreaking, and disgusting the attitudes that are on display by the pro-AI crowd on hugging face.

The worst parties here are actually not nyuuzyou (this is not a defense, what they did was and is detestable). There are users on hugging face actively attempting to use the dataset to harm others as a power flex.

However, both sides have acted in ways that are appalling.

One so-called "anti-AI, pro-AO3 author" went so far as to dox nyuuzyou and comb through their personal social media and posting what was found while threatening to find and release more. Their remarks about the social media content they reposted contained some of the vilest transphobic rhetoric I've had the misfortune of reading.

I have no idea if they really did dox nyuuzyou or if they were who they claimed to be. They could have easily take content from an unrelated user and posed as an AO3 defender to make the rest of us look bad.

I say because on the other side a "pro-AI, your work is mine for the taking" user who claims to be using the AO3 data in training right now and who posted an image of the alledge training, also launched a vile, transphobic attack on an author whose work was stolen because their name contained "authoress".

Different people or the same person? Doesn't matter. Wrong is wrong.

Thankfully, the huggyface mods did do something right and deleted the gross content and locked the thread.

Look, I was among those whose works were stolen. My art. My original character who I've developed since I was eleven was stolen. I just fought off a harrasser and plagiarist in my own fandom and now this.

Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I'm devastated. But I'm not going to wish harm on anyone either.

It won't change anything.

If you've been following this then you know there is a user claiming to be legal counsel and threatening those who file DMCAs even on their original works with lawsuits and says AO3 will be targeted as well if they pursue things legally.

A lot of this is rage bait and scare tactics. While there may some truth admist the name-calling and threats, OTW exists for a reason and if there was nothing legally they could do without getting all of fandom in trouble, we'd know something by now. But we don't.

The only thing I can say is be patient and wait to see what AO3 says.

And please don't engage in anything that can be construed as inciting violence, harassment, or doxxing.

Please.

[yadivagirl]

I linked this as a gift so hopefully people can read it. Below is the part about AO3.

At Archive of Our Own, a fan fiction database with more than 11 million stories, writers have increasingly pressured the site to ban data-scraping and A.I.-generated stories.

In May, when some Twitter accounts shared examples of ChatGPT mimicking the style of popular fan fiction posted on Archive of Our Own, dozens of writers rose up in arms. They blocked their stories and wrote subversive content to mislead the A.I. scrapers. They also pushed Archive of Our Own’s leaders to stop allowing A.I.-generated content.

Betsy Rosenblatt, who provides legal advice to Archive of Our Own and is a professor at University of Tulsa College of Law, said the site had a policy of “maximum inclusivity” and did not want to be in the position of discerning which stories were written with A.I.

[eyrieofsynapses]

Hello, everyone. The Organization for Transformative Works posted an update about how they're responding to the scraping of Ao3 for AI-generated works yesterday (https://otw.news/04ba07). In light of this, I wanted to provide my own update.

Back in December, I said that I would be locking all of my works to Archive users only until we had more information. I did not decide whether to make that permanent or not at the time, because we weren't sure whether locking works would help protect them from scrapers. (And, of course, it doesn't undo past scraping.)

However, in their post today, the OTW said this:

"What can I do to avoid data scraping?

You may want to restrict your work to Archive users only. While this will not block every potential scraper, it should provide some protection against large-scale scraping."

Locking works to Ao3 users only won't protect us from everything, but it'll do something. Not much, maybe, but something. While my works have been left up for a while and have probably been scraped already, I suspect we'll be seeing much more scraping as AIs become more common and competitive. Considering this, I'll likely leave my works locked if/until the OTW is able to develop better legal and/or digital barriers against scraping.

I'm not happy about this. Guests made up a good chunk of my readers, and given that it can take a while to get an Ao3 account--and that it can be a hassle for some people--plus how Ao3 works very hard to make it accessible to everyone, I'd much rather allow everyone access to my work.

But like many writers, I loathe the idea of any random scraper stealing my words and using them without my permission, never mind that many AIs utilizing scraping are paid for. At the same time, I love sharing my work and being a part of fandom, and I don't want to stop.

So right now, I'm compromising: I'll lock my works to protect from the large-scale scraping the OTW notes, but for now, I'll leave them up.

As to whether or not I'll continue posting--I don't know. It's not just about the AI crisis. I've been working on original work more lately (which almost certainly won't see the light of day here, and possibly nowhere on the Internet for now), and it's harder to slip into the fanfic mindset. But the scraping does play a part in my decision process.

I'll probably post shorter one-shots when I have the time and energy. Whether I'll post longer multi-chapter works (which I've never done before) is something I've yet to decide. Long-form work tends to reflect more of my writing skills and voice than short-form. But I have some things that have been in the works long-term, and I'd hate not sharing them when they're finally completed.

Anyway, thank you to everyone reading this, both for your time and your understanding. If you'd like to find out how to get an Ao3 account, you can read about the invitation process here.

[ofishal-fish-posts]

Another Ao3 Scrape???

And this one demands your full name and date of birth before you can enter it.

So this is the original scrape that everyone is (rightfully) upset about.

And here is a new one. I don't know what all they got but if you had any work on the archive between the dates listed, it's probably safe to assume they got some of yours.

Anyhow. Remember to report the datasets if you think your copyright was infringed!

How to Submit Copyright Infringement / Art Theft

Restrict your fics to the archive. Glaze, and if possible, Nightshade your art.

Fuck generative AI, and let's call this what it is. Content theft. IP theft. THEFT.

This absolutely sickens me. I feel violated. I have over 100k words on AO3. Each of those words was a labor of love. I don't want my work feeding AI slop. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[snowydoesitall]

please don’t scrape my ao3 works to train your ai please and thank you

i had to change the settings of my works on ao3 to registered users only bc one of my fics got fucking scraped and that’s not fun :(

[sparrow-olli]

I luckily only have one work up on A03 right now but it did get scraped.... I really hate that. I did not create that piece of work to train ai! I have archive locked the work and will be archive locking any future uploads. My heart goes out to anyone who got their work stolen in the unauthorized scrape <3

[radiantratqueen]

AO3 has been scraped, once again 😭😩😖 i hate it here

Same, honestly. It's so incredibly frustrating

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Check your content, besties. A handful of my stories have been scraped and I am NOT happy about my hard thought out work now being used to power a machine. AI has it's place, but it isn't in novel writing and thus dehumanising the creative process.

Alright! Sorry for being so absent today! I was building a tool so you can all check your own names on demand.

I am asking that you not talk about it on Hugging Face. I'm sure word will get there eventually, but I'd like to avoid them accessing this as much as possible. Feel absolutely free to spread around Tumblr.

Tool is here! Use page 1 to search by username. Use page 2 to search by work ID (which you'll need to do if you're looking for an anonymous work).

That said, I did pay out of pocket for some of the accounts I've needed to do all this. If I need to, I'm fine with eating that cost, but I am going to ask nicely that if you feel like kicking in toward it, you donate to the Ko-Fi I made specifically for this technical project. I was hoping to get a short-term membership, but I was only able to buy access to host this for a full year lmao. BUT regardless, this is freely available to everyone. Do NOT feel like you need to donate if it'll put you in a bad place or even if you just don't want to. Just figured I'd ask instead of quietly sucking up the $180.

I gave the tool a quick test, but please come yell if it stops working. I'm around; I'll fix as fast as I can.

Now with all that being said, time for me to start focusing on how we stop the next scrape.

[bluegiragi]

I really don’t care if I’m considered an annoying luddite forever, I will genuinely always hate AI and I’ll think less of you if you use it. ChatGPT, Generative AI, those AI chatbots - all of these things do nothing but rot your brain and make you pathetic in my eyes. In 2025? You’re completely reliant on a product owned by tech billionaires to think for you, write for you, inspire you, in 2025????

“Oh but I only use ___ for ideas/spellcheck/inspiration!!” I kinda don’t care? oh, you’re “only” outsourcing a major part of the creative process that would’ve made your craft unique to you. Writing and creating art has been one of the most intrinsically human activities since the dawn of time, as natural and central to our existence as the creation of the goddamn wheel, and sheer laziness and a culture of instant gratification and entitlement is making swathes of people feel not only justified in outsourcing it but ahead of the curve!!

And genuinely, what is the point of talking to an AI chatbot, since people looove to use my art for it and endlessly make excuses for it. RP exists. Fucking daydreaming exists. You want your favourite blorbo to sext you, there’s literally thousands of xreader fic out there. And if it isn’t, write it yourself! What does a computer’s best approximation of a fictional character do that a human author couldn’t do a thousand times better. Be at your beck and call, probably, but what kind of creative fulfilment is that? What scratch is that itching? What is it but an entirely cyclical ourobouros feeding into your own validation?

I mean, for Christ sakes there are people using ChatGPT as therapists now, lauding it for how it’s better than any human therapist out there because it “empathises”, and no one ever likes to bring up how ChatGPT very notably isn’t an accurate source of information, and often just one that lives for your approval. Bad habits? Eh, what are you talking about, ChatGPT told me it’s fine, because it’s entire existence is to keep you using it longer and facing any hard truths or encountering any real life hard times when it comes to your mental health journey would stop that!

I just don’t get it. Every single one of these people who use these shitty AIs have a favourite book or movie or song, and they are doing nothing by feeding into this hype but ensuring human originality and sincere passion will never be rewarded again. How cute! You turned that photo of you and your boyfriend into ghibli style. I bet Hayao Miyazaki, famously anti-war and pro-environmentalist who instills in all his movies a lifelong dedication to the idea that humanity’s strongest ally is always itself, is so happy that your request and millions of others probably dried up a small ocean’s worth of water, and is only stamping out opportunities for artists everywhere, who could’ve all grown up to be another Miyazaki. Thanks, guys. Great job all round.

[five-rivers]

I don't want my works to be on sketchy AI training websites, but I also don't want sketchy AI training websites to have my real human name and contact information, which is generally required for DMCA notices. You see my problem.

[ms-demeanor]

I don't care about data scraping from ao3 (or tbh from anywhere) because it's fair use to take preexisting works and transform them (including by using them to train an LLM), which is the entire legal basis of how the OTW functions.

[ofishal-fish-posts]

another place the Ao3 dataset is being stored: