French Publishers and Authors Sue Meta Over AI Copyright Infringement

Meta faces publisher copyright AI lawsuit in France

Meta is facing an AI copyright publisher lawsuit in France accusing it of economic "parasitism," Reuters reports. The French litigation was filed in a Paris court this week by the National Publishing Union (SNE), the National Union of Authors and Composers (SNAC), and the Society of People of Letters (SGDL), which are accusing Meta of unlawfully training its AI models on their protected content. The case is thought to be the first such action against an AI giant in the country. Meta is facing similar litigation in the U.S. in relation to the alleged use of unlicensed protected material to train its large language models, such as Llama. Reporting on comments made by the publishing associations at a press conference on Wednesday, Reuters quotes Maia Bensimon, the general delegate of SNAC, who alleged Meta is guilty of "monumental looting." The SNE's director general, Renaud Lefebvre, also dubbed the legal fight that the publishers are embarking on as a "David versus Goliath battle."

French publishers and authors file lawsuit against Meta in AI case

PARIS, March 12 (Reuters) - France's leading publishing and authors' associations have filed a lawsuit against U.S. tech giant Meta (META.O), opens new tab for allegedly using copyright-protected content on a massive scale without authorisation to train its artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Representatives for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The National Publishing Union (SNE), the leading professional publishing association, the National Union of Authors and Composers (SNAC) and the Society of Men of Letters (SGDL), which defend the interests of authors, told a press conference on Wednesday they had filed a complaint against Meta earlier this week in a Paris court for alleged copyright infringement and economic "parasitism". The three associations believe that Meta, which owns the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp social networks, was illegally using copyrighted content to train its AI models. "We are witnessing monumental looting," said Maia Bensimon, general delegate of SNAC. "It's a bit of a David versus Goliath battle," SNE Director General Renaud Lefebvre said. "It's a procedure that serves as an example," he added. This is the first such action against an AI giant in France but there is a wave of lawsuits notably in the United States against Meta and other tech companies by authors, visual artists, music publishers and other copyright owners over the data used to train their generative AI systems. In the United States, Meta is notably the target of a lawsuit filed in 2023 by American actress and author Sarah Silverman and other authors. The plaintiffs argue that Meta misused their books to train its large language model Llama. American novelist Christopher Farnsworth filed a similar lawsuit against Meta in October 2024. OpenAI, the company behind the AI tool ChatGPT, also faces a series of similar lawsuits in the United States, Canada, and India. Reporting by Florence Loeve, Writing by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Angus MacSwan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training

French publishers and authors said Wednesday they're taking Meta to court, accusing the social media company of using their works without permission to train its artificial intelligence model. Three trade groups said they were launching legal action against Meta in a Paris court over what they said was the company's "massive use of copyrighted works without authorization" to train its generative AI model. The National Publishing Union, which represents book publishers, has noted that "numerous works" from its members are turning up in Meta's data pool, the group's president, Vincent Montagne, said in a joint statement. Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. The company has rolled out generative-AI powered chatbot assistants to users of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. Montagne accused Meta of "noncompliance with copyright and parasitism." Another group, the National Union of Authors and Composers, which represents 700 writers, playwrights and composers, said the lawsuit was necessary to protect members from "AI which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself." The union is also worried about AI that "produces 'fake books' which compete with real books," the union's president, Francois Peyrony, said. The third group involved in the lawsuit, the Societe des Gens de Lettres, represents authors. They all demand the "complete removal" of data directories Meta created without authorization to to train its AI model. Under the European Union's sweeping Artificial Intelligence Act, generative AI systems must comply with the 27-nation bloc's copyright law and be transparent about the material they used for training. It's the latest example of the clash between the creative and publishing industries and tech companies over data and copyright. British musicians released a silent album last month to protest the U.K. government's proposed changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will erode their creative control. Media and technology company Thomson Reuters recently won a legal battle against a now-defunct legal research firm over the question of fair use in AI-related copyright cases, while other cases involving visual artists, news organizations and others are still working through U.S. courts.

French authors and publishers take on Meta for using their books to train AI

France's leading associations representing authors and publishers on Wednesday said they had filed a lawsuit against US tech titan Meta for what they alleged was the widespread use of copyright-protected texts to train AI models. French organisations representing publishers and authors said Wednesday they were launching legal action against Facebook owner Meta, after their books were used to train generative AI applications. The three groups - publishers' outfit SNE and authors' and composers' groups SGDL and SNAC - complained in a statement of "massive use of copyrighted works without authorisation from their authors and publishers" by the American company, accusing the tech giant of economic "parasitism". "We have established the presence of many works published by SNE members in the body of data used by Meta," SNE chief Vincent Montagne said in the statement. The three associations believe that Meta, which owns the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp social networks, was illegally using copyrighted content to train its AI models. "We are witnessing monumental looting," said Maia Bensimon, general delegate of SNAC. Meta has acknowledged using a database, Books3, containing the full texts of around 200,000 books including some in French to train its Llama large language model. In a separate US court case launched by authors, the company admitted last year to using the database until 2023, claiming that the AI training constituted "fair use" of the copyright-protected books. French publishers and authors have not publicly communicated an estimated value of the harm to them by Meta. Their case at the Paris judicial court "should lead to a serious desire emerging on the part of AIs to take the creative industries into account", SGDL head Christophe Hardy said. He called on AI developers to "respect the legal framework and, where relevant, find compensation for the use of works that feed into" the technology.

Why are French publishers and authors suing Meta?

Three French trade groups are launching legal action against Meta over the company's widespread use of copyrighted works to train its generative AI model - all without authorization. French publishers and authors have stated that they're taking Meta to court, accusing the social media company of using their works without permission to train its artificial intelligence model. Three trade groups said on Wednesday they were launching legal action against Meta in a Paris court over what they said was the company's "massive use of copyrighted works without authorization" to train its generative AI model. Meta has rolled out generative-AI powered chatbot assistants to users of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, and the National Publishing Union, which represents book publishers, has noted that "numerous works" from its members are turning up in Meta's data pool. Vincent Montagne, the president of the National Publishing Union, accused Meta of "noncompliance with copyright and parasitism." Another group, the National Union of Authors and Composers, which represents 700 writers, playwrights and composers, said the lawsuit was necessary to protect members from "AI which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself." The union is also worried about AI that "produces 'fake books' which compete with real books," said Francois Peyrony, the union's president. The third group involved in the lawsuit, the Société des Gens de Lettres, represents authors. They all demand the "complete removal" of data directories Meta created without authorization to to train its AI model. Under the European Union's sweeping Artificial Intelligence Act, generative AI systems must comply with the 27-nation bloc's copyright law and be transparent about the material they used for training. This is the latest example of the clash between the creative and publishing industries and tech companies over data and copyright. Last month, more than 1,000 British musicians - including Annie Lennox, Kate Bush and Damon Albarn - released a silent album to protest the UK government's proposed changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will threaten their creative control. The silent album, titled 'Is This What We Want?' and featuring the sounds of empty studios and performance spaces, is designed to be a symbol of the impact these changes could have on musicians' livelihoods. The tracklist boldly spells out: "The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies."

French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training

French publishers and authors said Wednesday they're taking Meta to court, accusing the social media company of using their works without permission to train its artificial intelligence model. Three trade groups said they were launching legal action against Meta in a Paris court over what they said was the company's "massive use of copyrighted works without authorization" to train its generative AI model. The National Publishing Union, which represents book publishers, has noted that "numerous works" from its members are turning up in Meta's data pool, the group's president, Vincent Montagne, said in a joint statement. Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. The company has rolled out generative-AI powered chatbot assistants to users of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. Montagne accused Meta of "noncompliance with copyright and parasitism." Another group, the National Union of Authors and Composers, which represents 700 writers, playwrights and composers, said the lawsuit was necessary to protect members from "AI which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself." The union is also worried about AI that "produces 'fake books' which compete with real books," the union's president, Francois Peyrony, said. The third group involved in the lawsuit, the Societe des Gens de Lettres, represents authors. They all demand the "complete removal" of data directories Meta created without authorization to to train its AI model. Under the European Union's sweeping Artificial Intelligence Act, generative AI systems must comply with the 27-nation bloc's copyright law and be transparent about the material they used for training. It's the latest example of the clash between the creative and publishing industries and tech companies over data and copyright. British musicians released a silent album last month to protest the U.K. government's proposed changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will erode their creative control. Media and technology company Thomson Reuters recently won a legal battle against a now-defunct legal research firm over the question of fair use in AI-related copyright cases, while other cases involving visual artists, news organizations and others are still working through U.S. courts.

French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training

French publishers and authors said Wednesday they're taking Meta to court, accusing the social media company of using their works without permission to train its artificial intelligence model. Three trade groups said they were launching legal action against Meta in a Paris court over what they said was the company's "massive use of copyrighted works without authorization" to train its generative AI model. The National Publishing Union, which represents book publishers, has noted that "numerous works" from its members are turning up in Meta's data pool, the group's president, Vincent Montagne, said in a joint statement. Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. The company has rolled out generative-AI powered chatbot assistants to users of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. Montagne accused Meta of "noncompliance with copyright and parasitism." Another group, the National Union of Authors and Composers, which represents 700 writers, playwrights and composers, said the lawsuit was necessary to protect members from "AI which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself." The union is also worried about AI that "produces 'fake books' which compete with real books," the union's president, Francois Peyrony, said. The third group involved in the lawsuit, the Societe des Gens de Lettres, represents authors. They all demand the "complete removal" of data directories Meta created without authorization to to train its AI model. Under the European Union's sweeping Artificial Intelligence Act, generative AI systems must comply with the 27-nation bloc's copyright law and be transparent about the material they used for training. It's the latest example of the clash between the creative and publishing industries and tech companies over data and copyright. British musicians released a silent album last month to protest the U.K. government's proposed changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will erode their creative control. Media and technology company Thomson Reuters recently won a legal battle against a now-defunct legal research firm over the question of fair use in AI-related copyright cases, while other cases involving visual artists, news organizations and others are still working through U.S. courts.

French Publishers and Authors Sue Meta Over Copyright Works Used in AI Training

French publishers and authors said Wednesday they're taking Meta to court, accusing the social media company of using their works without permission to train its artificial intelligence model. Three trade groups said they were launching legal action against Meta in a Paris court over what they said was the company's "massive use of copyrighted works without authorization" to train its generative AI model. The National Publishing Union, which represents book publishers, has noted that "numerous works" from its members are turning up in Meta's data pool, the group's president, Vincent Montagne, said in a joint statement. Meta didn't respond to a request for comment. The company has rolled out generative-AI powered chatbot assistants to users of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. Montagne accused Meta of "noncompliance with copyright and parasitism." Another group, the National Union of Authors and Composers, which represents 700 writers, playwrights and composers, said the lawsuit was necessary to protect members from "AI which plunders their works and cultural heritage to train itself." The union is also worried about AI that "produces 'fake books' which compete with real books," the union's president, Francois Peyrony, said. The third group involved in the lawsuit, the Societe des Gens de Lettres, represents authors. They all demand the "complete removal" of data directories Meta created without authorization to to train its AI model. Under the European Union's sweeping Artificial Intelligence Act, generative AI systems must comply with the 27-nation bloc's copyright law and be transparent about the material they used for training. It's the latest example of the clash between the creative and publishing industries and tech companies over data and copyright. British musicians released a silent album last month to protest the U.K. government's proposed changes to artificial intelligence laws that artists fear will erode their creative control. Media and technology company Thomson Reuters recently won a legal battle against a now-defunct legal research firm over the question of fair use in AI-related copyright cases, while other cases involving visual artists, news organizations and others are still working through U.S. courts. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Meta Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit in France Over AI Training | PYMNTS.com

Meta is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit in France brought by trade associations representing publishers and authors, who accuse the company of training its generative artificial intelligence model on their books without permission. Meta did not immediately reply to PYMNTS' request for comment. Tech companies have faced a wave of legal challenges over using copyrighted materials in developing AI tools. Defendants in these cases, including Meta, have largely argued that their practices fall under the doctrine of "fair use," which allows limited use of copyrighted works under certain circumstances. It was reported in January that Meta was facing a lawsuit in a California court alleging that the tech giant knowingly used pirated books to train its AI systems. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, was brought by prominent figures including author Ta-Nehisi Coates and comedian Sarah Silverman. In February, a group of news publishers sued AI firm Cohere for copyright infringement in a federal court in New York, accusing the company of improperly using at least 4,000 copyrighted works to train its AI large language model and of displaying large portions of articles while bypassing visits to the publishers' websites. "Our content is being stored and used to create verbatim and substitutional copies of our material," said Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News Media Alliance, which organized the suit on behalf of its members. A spokesperson for Cohere told PYMNTS at the time that the company stands by its training practices and prioritizes controls to reduce the risk of intellectual property infringement. "We would have welcomed a conversation about their specific concerns -- and the opportunity to explain our enterprise-focused approach -- rather than learning about them in a filing," the spokesperson said. "We believe this lawsuit is misguided and frivolous, and [we] expect this matter to be resolved in our favor."

French publishers and authors file lawsuit against Meta in AI case

PARIS (Reuters) - France's leading publishing and authors' associations have filed a lawsuit against U.S. tech giant Meta for allegedly using copyright-protected content on a massive scale without authorisation to train its artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Representatives for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The National Publishing Union (SNE), the leading professional publishing association, the National Union of Authors and Composers (SNAC) and the Society of Men of Letters (SGDL), which defend the interests of authors, told a press conference on Wednesday they had filed a complaint against Meta earlier this week in a Paris court for alleged copyright infringement and economic "parasitism". The three associations believe that Meta, which owns the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp social networks, was illegally using copyrighted content to train its AI models. "We are witnessing monumental looting," said Maia Bensimon, general delegate of SNAC. "It's a bit of a David versus Goliath battle," SNE Director General Renaud Lefebvre said. "It's a procedure that serves as an example," he added. This is the first such action against an AI giant in France but there is a wave of lawsuits notably in the United States against Meta and other tech companies by authors, visual artists, music publishers and other copyright owners over the data used to train their generative AI systems. In the United States, Meta is notably the target of a lawsuit filed in 2023 by American actress and author Sarah Silverman and other authors. The plaintiffs argue that Meta misused their books to train its large language model Llama. American novelist Christopher Farnsworth filed a similar lawsuit against Meta in October 2024. OpenAI, the company behind the AI tool ChatGPT, also faces a series of similar lawsuits in the United States, Canada, and India. (Reporting by Florence Loeve, Writing by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

French book rights owners take on Meta over AI

AFP - French organisations representing publishers and authors said yesterday they were launching legal action against Facebook owner Meta, after their books were used to train generative AI applications. The three groups - publishers' outfit SNE and authors' and composers' groups SGDL and SNAC - complained in a statement of "massive use of copyrighted works without authorisation from their authors and publishers" by the American company. "We have established the presence of many works published by SNE members in the body of data used by Meta," SNE chief Vincent Montagne said in the statement. Meta has acknowledged using a database, Books3, containing the full texts of around 200,000 books including some in French to train its Llama large language model. In a separate US court case launched by authors, the company admitted last year to using the database until 2023, claiming that the AI training constituted "fair use" of the copyright-protected books. French publishers and authors have not publicly communicated an estimated value of the harm to them by Meta. Their case at the Paris judicial court "should lead to a serious desire emerging on the part of AIs to take the creative industries into account," SGDL head Christophe Hardy said. He called on AI developers to "respect the legal framework and, where relevant, find compensation for the use of works that feed into" the technology.