French Publishing Titans Take on Meta in Landmark Copyright Lawsuit

Leading publishing and authors' associations in France have filed a landmark lawsuit against Meta. They allege the tech giant has used copyright-protected content without authorization to train its AI systems. Representatives from Meta have yet to comment on these allegations.

In a groundbreaking move, France's premier publishing and authors' associations are suing U.S. tech giant Meta. They claim that Meta used copyright-protected materials at a massive scale to enhance its artificial intelligence systems without proper authorization.

The National Publishing Union, the National Union of Authors and Composers, and the Society of Men of Letters have initiated legal proceedings in Paris, citing copyright infringement and economic parasitism against Meta. Allegations suggest Meta leveraged copyrighted works to train its AI models across its social media platforms.

This lawsuit is unprecedented in France but resonates beyond its borders. It follows a trend of similar legal actions in the U.S., where authors, visual artists, and other copyright owners, including American actress and author Sarah Silverman, have also taken legal action against Meta for similar reasons, indicating a growing global concern about AI training practices.

(With inputs from agencies.)