A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit against Meta over AI-related copyright issues to continue, although part of the case has been dismissed.
The lawsuit, Kadrey vs. Meta, was filed by authors like Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, who accuse Meta of using their books to train its Llama AI models without permission. They also claim Meta removed copyright information from their books to hide the alleged infringement.
Meta argues that its use of the books falls under “fair use” and insists that the authors don’t have the right to sue. During a court hearing last month, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria suggested he was not in favor of dismissing the case, though he criticized the authors’ legal teams for using exaggerated language.
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Chhabria stated that the authors had a valid claim for copyright infringement, as the alleged misuse of their works is a clear harm. He also noted that the authors’ allegations about Meta removing copyright information to hide its actions raised a “reasonable” possibility of intentional infringement.
The judge dismissed the authors’ claims under California’s Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA). This part of the case was dismissed because the authors did not claim that Meta accessed their computers or servers, only their data (the books themselves).
The lawsuit has already revealed some details about Meta’s approach to copyright. Court documents show that Mark Zuckerberg authorized the Llama team to use copyrighted works for training, and that other Meta staff discussed using questionable content for AI training.
