French publishers and authors have initiated legal proceedings against Meta Platforms, alleging use of copyrighted material without permission. The same was allegedly to develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The present legal action is reflective of an increasing worldwide dialogue regarding intellectual property rights during the development of artificial intelligence systems.
Charges against Meta
The SNE, SNAC and SGDL filed a case against Meta for committing an economic parasitism. The case claims that Meta took copyrighted material owned by these bodies illegally to feed it into their AI models. The phenomenon was dubbed “monumental looting” by SNAC’s General Delegate Maia Bensimon and SNE’s Director General Renaud Lefebvre described it as a “David versus Goliath battle” to emphasize the seriousness of the issue.
This sets a global pattern of increasing legal confrontations pitting creators against technology companies regarding AI training practices that utilize copyrighted works.
Creating a Legal Window for All
There are integrated global platforms where creatives all across the world are leading lawsuits against technological companies. This is for the infringement of their copyrights for using copyrighted material in training AI systems. Additionally, this trend resonates even in the courts of the United States with technology giants like Meta having cases against them in the nation. One such is that which saw actress-author Sarah Silverman and novelist Christopher Farnsworth sue Meta.
Legal Environment in India Battling Stereotypes
India has its own share of legal issues concerning AI training and copyright infringement. In November 2024, Asian News International (ANI), a news agency, sued OpenAI for using its content without permission. The same was allegedly while training the AI model and fabricating stories that attributed to the agency. ANI said that some of its content was public while the rest was restricted to its subscribers. And moreover, OpenAI did not have permission to use that without having proper licensing.
Furthermore, the case thus illustrated how ChatGPT fund-responded to nonexistent interviews with ANI, which included a fictitious chat with politician Rahul Gandhi. If you want to read about how OpenAI Faced Legal Challenges from Indian Media Over Copyright Infringement click here.
Broader Governance Effects on the Development of AI
These cases reflect a much more complex relationship between technology and copyright law. Very advanced AI systems depend on very large datasets which oftentimes include copyrighted materials. Using copyrighted material without permission can sometimes lead, at least theoretically, to an injunction against that use or make a successful case against the developer.
