Our AI policy:​

​​

• We do not stock or sell books with text or images produced with generative AI.

​

• No generative AI has been used, or ever will be used, in books published by us.

​

• No generative AI has been used, or ever will be used, in our book descriptions, product photography, website text, newsletters or any other text or images published by us online or in print.

​

• When you contact us, your reply will always be from a human, you will never receive an AI response.

 

If you think we are inadvertently stocking anything made with generative AI please contact us and we will investigate further.

​

 

A personal explanation of our AI policy:

 

CMB are in agreement with most companies dealing in intellectual property in considering the use of generative AI to be theft and a breach of UK copyright law. As such, we have felt the need to openly state our policy on AI for clarity to customers and to our suppliers, current and potential.

​

Unlike most fields of modern book publishing, some magic publishers have adopted generative AI quickly, using it for covers, illustrations and text. It’s not our place to tell publishers what to do, but we do feel strongly that authors and publishers who use AI should be open about it and mention it in the descriptions of their books. This would help the many consumers who do not wish to purchase goods made with AI. If a publisher has made a call that they are comfortable with the ethics and legality of generative AI, they should not feel the need to hide its use.

​

To prospective authors of books printing independently, I urge you not to use AI. If you approach me hoping I will stock your book it will be the first thing I ask and I will not make exceptions, regardless of how much work has gone into a project. Direct consumers may also steer clear, though most will be too polite to mention why.

​

It’s easy for me to check with individuals if they are selling AI products, but not so easy with wholesalers who add titles to their range regularly, most of which we would previously stock by default. An easy fix would be for wholesalers to ask for this information upfront, as is done with how many pages a book has, or if it’s paperback or hardback, etc. This information could then be put in the description of the book and everyone can make their own call from there. I have suggested this to the leading global magic wholesaler and they have deemed it impractical to request publishers are clear about their use of AI. So, the onus and expense of weeding out these books falls to me and you may notice titles missing from my site that are visible on others.

​

Anyway, I have stated my reasons for our policy. I hope people writing decent books won’t throw away a chunk of the market by using AI. Most of the great magic books of our time have very boring covers. Imperfection, even clumsiness, will always be forgiven if the content itself is decent. It will possibly even be seen as an asset, giving readers some trust they are actually reading the words of a fellow human magician. That’s my excuse for any typos in the above, anyway. - PDT