Meta Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement and Deepfake Images
-
Meta is facing a class action lawsuit filed by five major book publishers and one author over claims the company “engaged in one of the most massive infringements of copyrighted materials in history” when training its Llama AI models, as reported earlier by The New York Times. In their suit, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Elsevier, Hachette, Cengage, and author Scott Turow allege that Meta “repeatedly copied” their books and journal articles without permission.
Compare 2 other versions
EngadgetMeta's AI endeavors have drawn another legal challenge. The social media company and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are facing a class action lawsuit from five book publishers and one author on claims that it illegally used copyrighted works to train its Llama generative AI platform. The plaintiffs in the case are Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Elsevier and Cengage; they're joined by best-selling author Scott Turow.
CNETOne of the biggest considerations in these cases is whether tech companies' use of copyrighted books will make it harder for human authors to sell their work or otherwise affect the marketplace. The plaintiffs argue Meta's AI models can pop out entirely AI-generated scientific articles and novels, pointing to a number of authors selling AI-written works on Amazon. This is especially concerning for authors who say people are using AI to create content in their specific style.
-
A little over a year ago, MG was leading the relatively normal life of a twentysomething in Scottsdale, Arizona. She worked as a personal assistant and supplemented her income by waiting tables on the weekends. Like most women her age, she had an Instagram account, where she’d occasionally post Stories and photos of herself getting matcha and hanging out by the pool with her friends, or going to Pilates.
Compare 1 other version
WiredA little over a year ago, MG was leading the relatively normal life of a twentysomething in Scottsdale, Arizona. She worked as a personal assistant and supplemented her income by waiting tables on the weekends. Like most women her age, she had an Instagram account, where she’d occasionally post Stories and photos of herself getting matcha and hanging out by the pool with her friends, or going to Pilates.
-
“I never really cared to pop off and become popular on social media,” says MG (who is cited only as MG in the lawsuit to protect her identity). “I just used it the way most people did when it first came out, to share their lives with the people closest to them.” She has a little more than 9,000 followers—a robust following, but nowhere close to a massive platform.
Compare 1 other version
Wired“I never really cared to pop off and become popular on social media,” says MG (who is cited only as MG in the lawsuit to protect her identity). “I just used it the way most people did when it first came out, to share their lives with the people closest to them.” She has a little more than 9,000 followers—a robust following, but nowhere close to a massive platform.
-
She was even more appalled when she discovered that not only were doctored nude or scantily clad photos of her being circulated on the Internet, as she outlined in a recently filed complaint—they were also being used to advertise AI ModelForge, a platform that teaches men how to generate their own AI influencers. In a series of online classes and tutorials, the men allegedly taught subscribers to use a software called CreatorCore to train AI models using photos of unsuspecting young women, posting the resulting content on Instagram and TikTok.
Compare 1 other version
WiredShe was even more appalled when she discovered that not only were doctored nude or scantily clad photos of her being circulated on the internet, as she outlined in a recently filed complaint—they were also being used to advertise AI ModelForge, a platform that teaches men how to generate their own AI influencers. In a series of online classes and tutorials, the men allegedly taught subscribers to use a software called CreatorCore to train AI models using photos of unsuspecting young women, posting the resulting content on Instagram and TikTok.
4 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
-
01 CNET "Meta chose to live by its motto of 'move fast, and break things,' and now must be held accountable for what it broke, including the copyright laws," the American Association of Publishers said in a statement. An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-
02 The Verge Follow topics and authorsfrom this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
-
03 Engadget Instagram is taking a small step toward increasing transparency around AI-generated content on the service. The app is testing a new account-level label that will allow creators to self-identify as an "AI creator."
-
04 Wired MG is one of three plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in January in Arizona against three Phoenix men: Jackson Webb, Lucas Webb, and Beau Schultz, as well as 50 other John Does. The lawsuit alleges that the Webbs and Schultz scoured the internet for photos of unsuspecting young women, then used AI to generate photos and videos of fictional models who look exactly like them, selling such content on the subscription platform Fanvue.
Fact Corroboration
Which sources independently confirm the same facts. Hover a claim to see its sources, or a source to see what it corroborates.
Coverage by Perspective
Source Similarity
Connections show how similarly each outlet covered this story. Thicker lines = more similar framing.
Sources (5)
- engadget
- verge
- wired
- arstechnica
- cnet