{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-01T09:22:33.687Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"publishing","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"unknown","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":1},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-france-romance-publisher-ended-work-of-several-dozen-literary-translators-moving-to-ai-machine-translation-agency","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'plusieurs dizaines de traducteurs et traductrices travaillant régulièrement avec les éditions Harlequin reçoivent les unes après les autres un appel téléphonique leur annonçant la fin de leur collaboration avec la maison d’édition. Leurs contrats en cours seront les derniers.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'plusieurs dizaines de traducteurs et traductrices collaborant régulièrement avec Harlequin ont appris la fin de leur relation avec l’éditeur.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The translators' associations say that over the preceding weeks several dozen translators who worked regularly with Harlequin received phone calls ending their collaboration, and that their current contracts would be the last.","causal_attribution":"The associations' account; Siècle Digital relays it. The publisher's denial concerns the extent of AI use, not the calls."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'un prestataire externe, l’agence de communication Fluent Planet, se chargera de passer les textes dans un logiciel de « traduction automatique » et de recruter directement en freelance des relecteurs et relectrices chargées de post-éditer la sortie machine en français.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'HarperCollins France would use a third party company called Fluent Planet to run Harlequin romance novels through a machine translation system.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the associations, an outside agency, Fluent Planet, would run the texts through machine-translation software and recruit freelance post-editors to correct the machine output.","causal_attribution":"The associations' description, relayed by 404 Media; one origin."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Book publisher HarperCollins said it will start translating romance novels under its famous Harlequin label in France using AI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"404 Media reports that HarperCollins said it would start translating Harlequin romance novels in France using AI.","causal_attribution":"404 Media's report of the publisher's statement (it credits Publishers Weekly); the statement itself was not read."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Ils reçoivent un texte généré par l’IA qu’ils doivent corriger et réécrire dans des délais réduits, avec une rémunération nettement inférieure aux standards habituels.'; 'Certains évoquent des tarifs autour de 3 centimes par mot'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'ne se voyant offrir comme compensation que la possibilité (sans aucune garantie, d’ailleurs) de travailler au rabais pour un prestataire externe'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The former translators were offered the role of post-editor, correcting AI-generated text on shorter deadlines for much lower pay; some cite about 3 cents per word.","causal_attribution":"Translators' and associations' accounts; the rate is attributed to some translators."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'les éditions Harlequin ont signé un contrat de 4 ans avec la société Fluent Planet pour permettre une traduction de ses publications par l’intelligence artificielle générative'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The writers' union SNAC says Harlequin signed a four-year contract with Fluent Planet for translation by generative AI reviewed by translators reduced to post-editors.","causal_attribution":"The union's statement; the contract was not inspected."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'HarperCollins France, propriétaire de Harlequin, réfute l’idée d’un basculement total vers la traduction automatique.'; 'aucune collection n’est traduite uniquement par l’IA et évoque de simples'; 'présentant l’IA comme un outil d’assistance et non comme un substitut'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"HarperCollins France rejects a full switch to machine translation, saying no collection is translated by AI alone and describing tests amid falling sales; Fluent Planet says AI is an assisting tool.","causal_attribution":"The publisher's and agency's responses as reported by Siècle Digital; recorded as counterevidence."}],"effects":[{"label":"Translators' regular work for the publisher ended","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Former translators offered only lower-paid post-editing of machine output","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://atlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CP-Harlequin-3.pdf","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, PDF text extracted); translated by the research agent, an AI. The translators' associations' own statement.","independence_group":"atlf-en-chair-et-en-os-2025-12-15"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://siecledigital.fr/2025/12/18/harlequin-mise-sur-lia-pour-traduire-ses-romans-les-traducteurs-denoncent-une-rupture/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200); translated by the research agent, an AI. Relays the ATLF account and reports the publisher's and the agency's responses.","independence_group":"siecle-digital-2025-12-18"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://404media.co/harpercollins-will-use-ai-to-translate-harlequin-romance-novels","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200); the free preview only, the rest is behind a member wall. Relays Publishers Weekly and the ATLF statement.","independence_group":"404media-harpercollins"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://actualitte.com/article/129039/tribunes/traductions-automatisees-un-modele-indigne-chez-harlequin","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200); translated by the research agent, an AI. A tribune by the writers' union SNAC published by ActuaLitté.","independence_group":"snac-tribune-actualitte"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["How many translators lost work: the associations say several dozen; no exact figure is given.","When the calls began: the release says over the previous weeks and Siècle Digital says from the autumn of 2025.","Which machine-translation or AI system Fluent Planet uses, and how much of each translation it produces.","Whether any translator accepted post-editing work, and at what pay."],"geography":{"basis":"Harlequin France, its parent HarperCollins France and the protesting associations are French, and the translations are into French for the French market (ATLF release, Siècle Digital). Translators' own residences are not used.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["FR"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential response to a decision to adopt AI: the translators' associations say Harlequin ended several dozen translators' regular work as it moved translation to an agency using machine translation, and 404 Media reports the publisher said it would translate the novels using AI. The publisher disputes a full switch, and the count and dates are the associations'.","reviewed_on":"2026-11-01"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Consequential response to a decision to adopt AI. The translators' associations say Harlequin ended its translators' work as it moved translation to an agency that runs the books through machine-translation software for post-editing; 404 Media reports that HarperCollins said it would translate Harlequin novels in France using AI; a writers' union says the contract is for translation by generative AI. HarperCollins France says no collection is translated by AI alone. No AI output directed at the translators is described, so the person relation is unknown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"Translators' associations say Harlequin France ended several dozen literary translators' work as it moved translation to an AI machine-translation agency","summary":"In a press release of 15 December 2025, the French literary translators' association ATLF and the collective En chair et en os said that over the previous weeks several dozen translators who worked regularly for Harlequin, the romance imprint of HarperCollins France, had received phone calls telling them their collaboration was ending and that their current contracts would be the last. According to the associations, an outside agency, Fluent Planet, would run the books through machine-translation software and recruit freelancers to post-edit the output, and the affected translators were offered only lower-paid post-editing work for the agency. 404 Media reported that HarperCollins said it would start translating Harlequin novels in France using AI. HarperCollins France disputed a full switch: it said no collection is translated by AI alone, spoke of tests against a background of falling sales. Fluent Planet said AI assists the translator. The associations describe a loss of regular income for people who had worked with the publisher for up to twenty years, without unemployment rights as self-employed authors.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-12-15","aiSystem":"Machine-translation software used by the agency Fluent Planet, which the agency describes as proprietary AI; described by a writers' union as generative AI","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI translation tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the translators' associations, several dozen literary translators lost regular work from Harlequin, being offered only lower-paid post-editing of machine output; the publisher disputes a full switch to AI.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"unquantified","affectedCountEvidence":"The associations say several dozen translators ('plusieurs dizaines') received calls ending their collaboration; this is not an exact count or explicit lower bound, so zero placeholders are used. No individual translator is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"FR","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://atlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CP-Harlequin-3.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"ATLF and Collectif En chair et en os press release, 15 Dec 2025: Bradage de la traduction, plan social invisible : Harlequin passe à l'IA","firstPublishedAt":"2026-11-01T03:17:14.340087+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-11-01T03:17:14.340087+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["work","translation","publishing","freelance","machine-translation","ai-replacement"]}]}