Meta Wins Legal Battle Over AI Training and Copyright Claims

According to ShibDaily, Meta, the company behind Facebook, has emerged victorious in a significant legal case concerning copyright infringement. A U.S. federal judge ruled that Meta did not violate copyright laws when it used works from 13 authors to train its AI systems without obtaining prior consent. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria granted summary judgment in favor of Meta, stating that the authors who filed the lawsuit failed to provide sufficient evidence that the company's use of their books caused them any harm. In 2023, a group of authors, including comedian Sarah Silverman and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, accused Meta of copyright infringement for allegedly using their published works to train its large language models without permission. However, Judge Chhabria found that the authors did not demonstrate that Meta’s AI systems would lead to market dilution by generating content that directly competed with their work. Consequently, he determined that Meta’s use of the copyrighted material qualified as “fair use,” a legal principle that allows limited use of protected content without authorization, thereby shielding the company from copyright liability. Despite ruling in Meta’s favor, Judge Chhabria acknowledged that using copyrighted material without permission to train large language models, such as those powering tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, could be unlawful in many circumstances. His remarks offered some reassurance to creative professionals who argue that such practices infringe on their intellectual property rights. Victoria Aveyard, author of the bestselling Red Queen series, has been among the most vocal critics of Meta’s AI training practices. In a March TikTok post, Aveyard accused the company of using her work without her consent, without compensation, and against her will, referencing a database published by The Atlantic that allows authors to check whether their books were included in AI training datasets. Meanwhile, Meta welcomed the court’s decision, with a company spokesperson telling Reuters that it supports the principle of fair use, calling it a vital legal framework for building transformative AI technology. Artificial intelligence systems have recently become the focus of numerous legal disputes concerning alleged copyright infringement. Among these, OpenAI and The New York Times are engaged in an ongoing legal battle, with the Times asserting that OpenAI used its articles without authorization. OpenAI maintains that its activities fall within the bounds of fair use and emphasizes the significance of advancing AI technology. In December 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commented on the ongoing lawsuit, asserting that the news organization is on the wrong side of history.