What is the main topic?

The article discusses allegations against Meta for using pirated books to train its AI systems, leading to a copyright lawsuit.

Who are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit?

Authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sarah Silverman are suing Meta for copyright infringement.

LibGen is a dataset allegedly containing millions of pirated works, used by Meta for AI training.

Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

Global Banking & Finance Review® is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Home > Finance > Meta knew it used pirated books to train AI, authors say

Finance

Meta knew it used pirated books to train AI, authors say

Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®

Posted on January 10, 2025

2 min read

Last updated: January 27, 2026

Meta Platforms accused of using pirated books for AI training - Global Banking & Finance Review — This image illustrates the controversy surrounding Meta Platforms' alleged use of pirated books for training AI models. The article discusses authors' claims against Meta, highlighting issues of copyright infringement and the ethical implications of using unauthorized content for AI development.

Meta Accused of Using Pirated Books for AI Training

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - Meta Platforms used pirated versions of copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence systems with approval from its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a group of authors alleged in newly disclosed court papers.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, comedian Sarah Silverman and other authors suing Meta for copyright infringement made the accusations in filings made public on Wednesday in California federal court. They said internal documents produced by Meta during the discovery process showed the company knew the works were pirated.

Spokespeople for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The authors sued Meta in 2023, arguing that the tech giant misused their books to train its large language model Llama.

The case is one of several alleging that copyrighted works by authors, artists and others were used to develop AI products without permission. Defendants have argued that they made fair use of copyrighted material.

The authors asked the court on Wednesday for permission to file an updated complaint. They said new evidence showed Meta used the AI training dataset LibGen, which allegedly includes millions of pirated works, and distributed it through peer-to-peer torrents.

They said internal Meta communications showed Zuckerberg "approved Meta's use of the LibGen dataset notwithstanding concerns within Meta's AI executive team (and others at Meta) that LibGen is 'a dataset we know to be pirated.'"

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria last year dismissed claims that text generated by Meta's chatbots infringed the authors' copyrights and that Meta unlawfully stripped their books' copyright management information (CMI).

The writers argued Wednesday that the evidence bolstered their infringement claims and justified reviving their CMI claim and adding a new computer fraud claim.

Chhabria said during a hearing on Thursday that he would allow the writers to file an amended complaint but expressed skepticism about the merits of the fraud and CMI claims.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Aurora Ellis)

Meta knew it used pirated books to train AI, authors say

Quick Summary

Meta Accused of Using Pirated Books for AI Training

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions about Meta knew it used pirated books to train AI, authors say