Judge allows authors’ AI copyright lawsuit against Meta to move forward

A federal judge has decided to allow a copyright lawsuit against Meta to proceed, though he dismissed a portion of the case. In the lawsuit titled Kadrey vs. Meta, authors such as Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates claim that Meta infringed on their intellectual property by using their books to train its Llama AI models. They further allege that Meta stripped the copyright information from these books to conceal the infringement.
On the other hand, Meta argues that its use of the material falls under fair use and sought to have the case dismissed, claiming the authors lack the legal standing to sue. During last month's court session, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria hinted at his reluctance to dismiss the case but also took issue with what he described as "over-the-top" rhetoric from the authors' lawyers.
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Chhabria stated that the claim of copyright infringement constitutes a "concrete injury sufficient for standing." He also found that the authors had sufficiently alleged that Meta deliberately removed copyright management information (CMI) to hide the infringement. Chhabria noted, "Taken together, these allegations raise a 'reasonable, if not particularly strong inference' that Meta removed CMI to try to prevent Llama from outputting CMI and thus revealing it was trained on copyrighted material."
However, the judge dismissed the authors' claims under the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), reasoning that the authors did not claim that Meta accessed their computers or servers, but only their data in the form of their books.
The lawsuit has shed some light on Meta's approach to copyright issues, with court documents from the plaintiffs suggesting that Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of copyrighted works for training the Llama models, and that other Meta team members discussed using legally questionable content for AI training.
Currently, the courts are handling several AI-related copyright lawsuits, including one filed by The New York Times against OpenAI.
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Comments (23)
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Interesting case! The judge letting part of the lawsuit proceed shows the legal system is starting to grapple with AI training data issues. This could set a major precedent for how copyrighted works are used in model development. Authors definitely deserve clarity on where the line is drawn.
드디어 제대로 된 법적 대응이 시작되는 건가요? 🤔 메타가 저지른 저작권 침해 사례들은 벌써 여러 번 봤는데, 이번엔 좀 더 명확한 판결이 나오길 바랍니다. AI 발전을 위해서라도 합법적인 데이터 사용 체계가 필요해요.
This lawsuit against Meta is wild! Authors like Sarah Silverman are fighting back, saying their work got used without permission. Makes me wonder how AI companies are gonna handle copyright going forward. 🤔 Big tech’s in for a rough ride!
मेटा के खिलाफ यह कॉपीराइट मुकदमा लेखकों के लिए बहुत बड़ी बात है! यह अच्छी बात है कि जज ने इसे आगे बढ़ने दिया, लेकिन यह दुख की बात है कि इसका एक हिस्सा खारिज हो गया। मुझे उम्मीद है कि कैडरे और उनकी टीम अपने काम के लिए न्याय प्राप्त करेगी। AI और कॉपीराइट का इस तरह मिलना बहुत ही अजीब है! 🤔 लेखकों, अच्छे काम के लिए लड़ते रहो! 💪
This lawsuit against Meta is a big deal for authors! It's cool that the judge let it move forward, but it's a bummer that part of it got dismissed. I hope Kadrey and the gang get justice for their work. It's crazy to think about AI and copyrights mixing like this! 🤔 Keep fighting the good fight, authors! 💪

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Interesting case! The judge letting part of the lawsuit proceed shows the legal system is starting to grapple with AI training data issues. This could set a major precedent for how copyrighted works are used in model development. Authors definitely deserve clarity on where the line is drawn.
드디어 제대로 된 법적 대응이 시작되는 건가요? 🤔 메타가 저지른 저작권 침해 사례들은 벌써 여러 번 봤는데, 이번엔 좀 더 명확한 판결이 나오길 바랍니다. AI 발전을 위해서라도 합법적인 데이터 사용 체계가 필요해요.
This lawsuit against Meta is wild! Authors like Sarah Silverman are fighting back, saying their work got used without permission. Makes me wonder how AI companies are gonna handle copyright going forward. 🤔 Big tech’s in for a rough ride!
मेटा के खिलाफ यह कॉपीराइट मुकदमा लेखकों के लिए बहुत बड़ी बात है! यह अच्छी बात है कि जज ने इसे आगे बढ़ने दिया, लेकिन यह दुख की बात है कि इसका एक हिस्सा खारिज हो गया। मुझे उम्मीद है कि कैडरे और उनकी टीम अपने काम के लिए न्याय प्राप्त करेगी। AI और कॉपीराइट का इस तरह मिलना बहुत ही अजीब है! 🤔 लेखकों, अच्छे काम के लिए लड़ते रहो! 💪
This lawsuit against Meta is a big deal for authors! It's cool that the judge let it move forward, but it's a bummer that part of it got dismissed. I hope Kadrey and the gang get justice for their work. It's crazy to think about AI and copyrights mixing like this! 🤔 Keep fighting the good fight, authors! 💪





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