Meta Faces Lawsuit Over AI Training with Pirated Books, Authors Allege
In a groundbreaking lawsuit, Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, is accused of using pirated versions of copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence systems. The allegations were made by a group of authors, including Ta-Nehisi Coates and comedian Sarah Silverman.
Allegations and Lawsuit Details
The authors argue that Meta misused their works to train its large language model, Llama, without their permission. The lawsuit, filed in 2023, is one of several alleging that copyrighted works by authors, artists, and others were used to develop AI products without permission.
The authors claim that internal Meta documents, disclosed during the discovery phase, prove the company was aware the works were pirated. They further allege that Meta distributed the dataset through peer-to-peer torrents.
The authors have asked the court for permission to file an updated complaint, stating that new evidence shows Meta used the AI training dataset LibGen, which allegedly includes millions of pirated works.
Legal Proceedings and Claims
They claim that internal Meta communications show that CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of the LibGen dataset, despite concerns within Meta's AI executive team that LibGen is 'a dataset we know to be pirated.'
The authors argued that the new evidence bolstered their infringement claims and justified reviving their CMI claim and adding a new computer fraud claim.
Chhabria expressed skepticism about the merits of the fraud and CMI claims but allowed the writers to file an amended complaint.
Industry Implications and Ethical Considerations
This case is not the first time tech giants have faced scrutiny over their use of copyrighted material. In a similar vein, OpenAI, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research organization, introduced new search capabilities within its widely-used chatbot, ChatGPT, marking its foray into an area long dominated by search giants like Google and Microsoft Bing.
As AI technology continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, it is crucial that legal and ethical considerations keep pace to protect the rights of all stakeholders involved.
The lawsuit against Meta is a significant development in the ongoing debate about the ethical use of copyrighted material in AI training. It underscores the need for clear guidelines and regulations to ensure that the use of such material respects the rights of authors and creators.
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