Meta is facing a copyright lawsuit in France, brought by authors and publishers who allege the company engaged in economic “parasitism” by using their content to train its AI models, according to a Reuters report.
The French legal action was filed this week in a Paris court by the National Publishing Union (SNE), the National Union of Authors and Composers (SNAC), and the Society of People of Letters (SGDL). These organizations accuse Meta of unlawfully utilizing their protected content for the development of its AI models. The case is considered to be France’s first major legal challenge against a significant AI company.
Meta is also the subject of similar litigation in the United States, where the company faces allegations of using unlicensed copyrighted material to train its large language models, including Llama.
Reuters reported on comments made during a press conference Wednesday, quoting Maia Bensimon, the general delegate of SNAC. She accused Meta of engaging in “monumental looting.” Renaud Lefebvre, the SNE’s director general, referred to the legal battle as a “David versus Goliath battle.”
Meta has been contacted for comment on the lawsuit.
