# ChatGPT now refuses direct requests to copy famous authors' exact styles > Source: > Published: 2026-08-09 09:39:47.356123+00:00 [Hacker News](https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/07/chatgpt-stops-cloning-famous-writers-voices-but-may-capture-a-similar-feeling/) ### ChatGPT now refuses direct requests to copy famous authors' exact styles Which summary reads better? Pick one — models revealed after.Both summaries are AI-generated. ChatGPT now blocks direct requests to mimic the exact style of living authors, offering instead to capture their "broad qualities" while maintaining its own voice. This change reduces legal risks tied to copyright infringement lawsuits, as producing "substantially similar" work could be deemed infringing. For developers deploying LLMs, this means tighter constraints on stylistic outputs, requiring adjustments in applications relying on precise authorial imitation. ChatGPT now blocks direct requests to mimic a specific author’s style, even for deceased writers. This change forces you to work around vague “broad qualities” prompts, increasing latency and reducing output consistency for any agent that relies on stylistic fidelity—think personalized content, creative co-writing, or brand-voice automation. Expect higher error rates and retries in production pipelines that previously used exact-style copying as a shortcut.