Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are facing a fresh lawsuit alleging the use of pirated books to train AI models. The latest legal battle sparks renewed debate over copyright laws, data ethics, and the future of AI regulation. The lawsuit opens a new front in the ongoing copyright battle between creators and tech companies over AI training, in which dozens of authors, news outlets, visual artists and other plaintiffs have sued companies including Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic for infringement.
Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are now under fire again after publishers filed a fresh legal challenge in the US. According to reports, major publishers and an author have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging copyright violations tied to the company’s AI efforts. The lawsuit claims that Meta used copyrighted books and academic content without permission to train its Llama large language models.
The plaintiffs include prominent publishing houses such as Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Elsevier, and Cengage, as well as author Scott Turow. The complaint stated that Meta copied and distributed millions of copyrighted works without authorization or compensation. It also claimed that Zuckerberg was directly involved in approving such practices.
The lawsuit is reportedly filed in Manhattan federal court. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and also pushing to expand the case to represent a broader group of copyright holders.
“Meta’s mass-scale infringement isn’t public progress, and AI will never be properly realized if tech companies prioritize pirate sites over scholarship and imagination,” Maria Pallante, the president of the Association of American Publishers, said in a statement.
Meta has maintained that its AI practices fall within legal boundaries and argued that training models on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use. The company has also indicated it will contest the claims.
“AI is powering transformative innovations, productivity and creativity for individuals and companies, and courts have rightly found that training AI on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use,” a Meta spokesperson responded in a statement on Tuesday. “We will fight this lawsuit aggressively.”
Also Read: Meta Sued Over Scam Ads, $16B Revenue Claim Sparks Major Controversy
This is not the first time Meta’s AI training methods have come under scrutiny. The company has faced many lawsuits with similar allegations, although earlier attempts by authors to prove copyright infringement have not always succeeded. In parallel cases involving other AI firms, such as Anthropic, courts have shown mixed responses, with some suggesting that while copyright claims may be complex, piracy-related arguments could carry more weight.
The publishers allege that Meta pirated works ranging from textbooks to scientific articles to novels, including The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin and The Wild Robot by Peter Brown for its AI training. They asked the court for permission to represent a larger class of copyright owners and an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
Amazon- and Google-backed Anthropic was the first major AI company to settle one of the cases, agreeing last year to pay a group of authors $1.5bn to resolve a class-action lawsuit that could have cost the company billions more in damages for alleged piracy.
For Meta, this controversy is not just about defending its reputation. It is a crucial test of trust. Winning the case would help the company reassert its commitment to responsible AI development and data transparency.