Publishers and Author Scott Turow File Class Action Against Meta Over Alleged Illegal Use of Copyrighted Books to Train Llama AI

A coalition of major publishers and celebrated author Scott Turow launched a class action lawsuit against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, alleging the tech giant systematically downloaded millions of copyrighted books without authorization and used them to train its artificial intelligence model Llama. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, positions this as a direct copyright infringement case with significant implications for how AI companies source training data.

The lawsuit targets what the plaintiffs describe as an organized effort by Meta to acquire vast troves of protected literary works. According to the filing, the company allegedly bypassed licensing requirements and legal frameworks by scraping content at scale to feed its Llama model. The plaintiffs argue this represents a fundamental violation of intellectual property rights, with publishers and authors seeking remedies that could include statutory damages and injunctive relief.

The legal action signals mounting pressure from the publishing industry against AI companies that have built commercial products using scraped content. As generative AI continues to reshape media and technology sectors, courts are increasingly asked to define the boundaries of fair use and copyright protection. The outcome could set precedents governing how AI models are trained, potentially forcing companies to negotiate licensing agreements retroactively or restructure data collection practices. Meta has not publicly responded to the specific allegations.