Copyright in the Age of AI: Exploring the Lawsuits Against OpenAI and Meta

Copyright infringement lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI and Meta by comedian Sarah Silverman and authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey. They allege that their works were illegally acquired and used to train OpenAI's ChatGPT and Meta's LLaMA. 

The authors claim that their books were obtained from "shadow library" websites and made available in bulk via torrent systems. Exhibits show that ChatGPT summarized their books without reproducing any copyright management information. 

In the case against Meta, the authors argue that their books were accessible in datasets used to train LLaMA models. They highlight the origin of these datasets, including one called ThePile, assembled from a copy of the contents of the Bibliotik private tracker. 

The lawsuits assert that the authors did not provide consent for their copyrighted works to be used as training material. The claims include various counts of copyright violations, negligence, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition. 

Lawyers representing the authors express concerns about AI's ability to generate text similar to copyrighted materials. Similar cases have been filed against AI companies, signaling a growing need to address copyright boundaries in the age of AI.

These lawsuits have significant implications for OpenAI, Meta, and the broader AI community, pushing the limits of copyright law. It remains to be seen how the courts will rule on this complex and evolving issue. 

We've reached out to Meta, OpenAI, and the Joseph Saveri Law Firm for comment, and we'll continue to monitor the developments of these cases. Stay tuned for updates on the outcome and the impact on AI and copyright in the future.