Accusations of plagiarism, AI use and author bullying: 'BookTok' rocked by recent scandals
A scandal over allegations of plagiarism is rocking the book community on TikTok, becoming the latest drama to unfold in a pocket of the internet that was once considered a safer space from online toxicity.
'Beverly,' a romance novel by indie author Laura J. Robert, had picked up recent buzz on the social media platform, where readers and authors often discuss the latest titles and give recommendations.
But several creators removed their videos praising Robert's book after allegations emerged that it was a rip-off of the indie author R.J. Lewis' 'Obsessed,' which was published in 2016. Both books have plots that follow a lead female character and her romance with her childhood friend.
Some people posted excerpts of Lewis' words juxtaposed with Robert's, identifying what they described as similarities. Others accused Robert of using artificial intelligence to tweak and lengthen Lewis' book to create her own version. A handful of people speculated the authors could be the same person — because Robert's initials are Lewis' initials backward — and that the controversy could all be a PR stunt.
NBC News was unable to reach Robert on Friday. Lewis declined to comment further.
On BookTok, some have cited the somewhat niche controversy as yet another example of the community's shift away from lighthearted content around new releases.
'Does anyone miss just having a silly, goofy, fun time, having a bit of a laugh?' Lola Oluremi, a BookTok creator, said in a recent video discussing 'Beverly' and 'Obsessed.' 'I feel like every time I log onto BookTok now, it's something.'
The online space, which has been credited for inspiring a fresh wave of interest in literature, hasn't been devoid of drama in the past. But this month, the 'Beverly' accusations followed two other separate situations that had caused some division among BookTokers online.
Author Ali Hazelwood, who is behind popular novels such as 'The Love Hypothesis,' left Instagram purportedly after she was 'bullied' for a comment she made during a panel discussion at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April.
Hazelwood weighed in on who she thought Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of Suzanne Collins' 'Hunger Games' books, should have ended up with romantically, saying it should have been her childhood friend Gale, rather than her fellow tribute, Peeta.
'He's a terrible, mean, selfish person,' Hazelwood said of the character Peeta, a baker's son from District 12 who was reaped alongside Katniss in the books. The clip of Hazelwood's remarks was widely circulated and blasted online by people who accused her of having a bad take.
Hazelwood didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Since she went dark online, several BookTokers have come to her defense, reflecting on how the community has seemingly become more prone to getting lost in meaningless discourse.
'The way y'all have lost the plot over a fictional bread boy has left me genuinely questioning the mental health of the book community,' Shelley Fleuridor, the YouTuber behind the channel 'Book Chats with Shelley,' said in a recent video delving into the Hazelwood backlash. 'We need to talk about what's happening to this community and why some of you genuinely need to be placed in a reading timeout immediately, maybe permanently.'
Also this past month, Victoria Aveyard, the author of the 'Red Queen' books, sparked a wave of backlash and speculation on BookTok after she post a video alluding to another author's using generative AI in a novel without naming the purported writer. She said she didn't name the person because she didn't want to get sued.
'Using GenAI to come up with characters, plots and story ideas isn't writing. It's theft,' Aveyard said. 'Using GenAI doesn't make you a writer. It makes you a thief.' She said generative AI has been trained on copyrighted material that 'has been stolen from artists without license or compensation.'
Some subsequent posts from users accuse Aveyard of being a 'mean girl' obsessed with 'drama.' In other videos, some try to guess which author she was referring to. Meanwhile, a handful of authors have also been posting videos of their writing and editing processes to prove their work isn't made with AI.
With 'Beverly,' it remains unclear whether there will be consequences for Robert beyond online fallout.
Robert's social media pages and her author website were no longer online Friday. 'Beverly' has also been removed from Amazon. The title remains on GoodReads, where several people have posted comments about the plagiarism accusations and given the book a one-star review.
Lewis posted about the plagiarism allegations on Instagram this week, calling the situation an indie author's 'worst nightmare.'
"I'm an author who does not have a big online presence and thank all who have reached out to bring this to my attention as I don't have much visibility on the social media space," she wrote.
She said she has contacted Amazon to raise a copyright infringement case and hopes 'that people in the booktok space realize this author is stealing content and profiting from it.'
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