Meta AI's copyright case takes new turn

A group of copyright law professors has filed a brief in support of authors suing Meta over allegations that the company trained its Llama AI models on e-books without permission.

The professors argued that Meta's fair use defense is unfounded.

The brief mentioned that using copyrighted works to train generative models is not "transformative" because it serves a similar purpose to educating human authors.

The professors also claimed that the use is commercial, as it enables Meta to create works that compete with the originals in the same markets.

The International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers, the Copyright Alliance, and the Association of American Publishers have also submitted amicus briefs in support of the authors.

Meanwhile, Meta has claimed that its training qualifies as fair use and that the case should be dismissed due to lack of standing.

However, a US district judge recently allowed the case to move forward, finding that the authors have adequately alleged copyright infringement and intentional removal of copyright management information.

This case is part of a larger trend of AI-related copyright lawsuits such as The New York Times' suit against OpenAI.