Éditions du Boréal, in Montreal, ended its collaboration with Thélyson Orélien on Wednesday, after an external analysis of working versions of the novel “C’était ça ou mourir.” It found traces of AI markers in the metadata of some documents. It will not reprint the novel. It will not publish other books by the author. It is an editorial break. It is not a criminal sentence. It is not the Goncourt withdrawal, which already happened on 25 September.

Público: a statement on social media, on Wednesday. In France, Grasset; the book had already been taken off the Goncourt list after accusations from the “Balance ton Claude” account. That is September’s file. Wednesday is the Canadian decision.

Franceinfo, with AFP: Boréal: new elements, confirmed in recent days, indicate that AI was used in the writing, although the author had told them several times that it was not. They gathered the working versions and ordered an external analysis. Results this week: markers in the metadata. “We still do not know to what extent AI was used, and we will probably never have a definitive answer.” For them, the question is trust. A publisher’s quote. Not a court ruling.

CBC: in mid-October, Boréal had kept the book in shops. Orélien, on 13 October, to AFP: no sentence was made by a machine; he used tools, here and there, for foreign idioms. On 21 September, the same X account and a Pangram detector; the same day, the Fnac prize. Accusations. Not Wednesday’s sentence.

Boréal told the author before the statement. It asked for restraint over personal attacks. Le Devoir reported the break. A break. Not September’s Goncourt.

Source consulted: Thélyson Orélien’s publisher says AI was used in C’était ça ou mourir — Público.

Image: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montreal, 9 August 2017, Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. A library, not a court.

Sources consulted: Éditions du Boréal ends its business relationship with Thélyson Orélien — Le Devoir.