Meta has been taken to court by French publishing and authors’ associations over allegations of unlawfully using copyrighted content to train its artificial intelligence models.
The lawsuit, filed in a Paris court this week, was brought by the National Publishing Union (SNE), the National Union of Authors and Composers (SNAC), and the Society of People of Letters (SGDL).
The organisations claim that Meta has been using their protected works without permission, describing the company’s act as a form of economic “parasitism.”
This is the first case of its kind in France against a top AI company. Similar lawsuits have been filed in the United States, where Meta and other tech giants are dealing with court cases over the use of copyrighted material in AI training.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, SNAC’s general delegate, Maia Bensimon, condemned Meta’s acts, stating, “We are witnessing monumental looting.”
Renaud Lefebvre, director general of SNE, described the lawsuit as a “David versus Goliath battle,” emphasising the scale of the challenge smaller organisations face when confronting global technology firms.
While Meta has yet to respond to the allegations, the case adds to the list of copyright disputes involving AI development.
In the U.S., Meta is already being sued by several authors, including actress and writer Sarah Silverman, over similar claims. Lawsuits against OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, have also cropped up in multiple countries, including Canada and India.
