Meta hit with new author copyright lawsuit over AI training

Novelist Christopher Farnsworth has filed a proposed class-action copyright lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab accusing the tech giant of misusing his books and others to train its Llama artificial-intelligence large language model.

Farnsworth said in the lawsuit, opens new tab on Tuesday that Meta fed Llama, which powers its AI chatbots, thousands of pirated books to teach it how to respond to human prompts.

Other authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and comedian Sarah Silverman have brought similar class-action claims against Meta in the same court over its alleged use of their books in AI training.

Farnsworth’s case, brought by the large class action plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, comes after a federal judge criticized the authors’ lead attorney in the earlier case and allowed prominent litigator David Boies and other lawyers from his firm Boies Schiller Flexner to join the plaintiffs’ team.

Spokespeople for Meta and Farnsworth’s attorneys at Lieff Cabraser did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new lawsuit on Wednesday.

Several groups of copyright owners including writers, visual artists and music publishers have sued major tech companies over the unauthorized use of their work to train generative AI systems.

The companies have argued that their AI training is protected by the copyright doctrine of fair use and that the lawsuits threaten the burgeoning AI industry.

Farnsworth, who lives in Los Angeles, said in his lawsuit that his works were included in a “trove” of pirated books that Meta used to train Llama.

He asked the court for an unspecified amount of money damages and an order forcing Meta to stop its alleged infringement.

The case is Farnsworth v. Meta Platforms Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:24-cv-06893.

For Farnsworth: Elizabeth Cabraser, Daniel Hutchinson, Reilly Stoler and Rachel Geman of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein