Major Publishers Sue Meta Over AI Copyright Infringement

Five major publishers filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the technology company Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, individually.  The case builds on previous copyright litigation and alleges that Meta violated multiple copyrights when training its llama AI models. Central to the case are allegations that Meta knowingly pirated large amounts of copyrighted materials and used them to train its AI. A recent Holland & Knight memo discusses the case and its impacts on copyright law, copyright owners, and AI developers:

• “For Copyright and Fair Use Law: This case could test whether evidence of unauthorized sourcing and market harm can outweigh a finding of transformativeness. A ruling in Meta’s favor could reinforce the fair use doctrine for AI developers, even in the face of piracy allegations. Conversely, a ruling against Meta could narrow the fair use defense for AI developers, particularly where defendants allegedly bypass available licensing markets.
• For Copyright Owners: This case may show that institutional plaintiffs with robust market data, an established licensing infrastructure and diverse copyrighted works are better positioned than individual authors to support claims of market harm. For authors and publishers alike, it may encourage copyright holders to monitor for and document evidence of market displacement from AI-generated material and develop and participate in well-defined licensing programs for AI training content.
• For AI Developers: The complaint highlights potential liability for sourcing training data from unauthorized channels, particularly where licensing alternatives exist. The naming of Zuckerberg as a defendant in his personal capacity may signal an appetite among plaintiffs to pursue individual officer liability. Developers may see fit to evaluate their data provenance practices, document good-faith licensing efforts and assess whether their models’ outputs could functionally substitute for source materials in ways that create market harm.”

The case builds on issues fleshed out by the courts in previous AI-related cases. Specifically, it targets the alleged piracy of training materials, a key issue in Bartz v. Anthropic. We’ll see if Meta rolls the dice in court, or if this will result in another multi-million dollar settlement like the one ultimately reached in Bartz.