News/Copyright
Meta blushes in face of $350M lawsuit over alleged AI training via adult video piracy
Strike 3 Holdings has filed a federal lawsuit against Meta, alleging the tech giant illegally torrented over 2,300 copyrighted adult videos to train its AI models since 2018. The company claims Meta specifically sought out pornographic content to capture unique visual angles and extended scenes that are rare in mainstream media, helping advance what Mark Zuckerberg calls AI "superintelligence." What you should know: Strike 3's lawsuit reveals the alleged scope of Meta's content piracy extends far beyond adult videos to mainstream entertainment. The company alleges Meta used BitTorrent—a file-sharing protocol often used for piracy—to download and distribute 2,396 of Strike...
read Sep 17, 2025“Tell companies it looks uncool”: Illustrator against AI art now helps artists in NYC fight back
Artist and illustrator Molly Crabapple discovered in 2022 that AI companies had scraped her distinctive artwork—including illustrations of Aleppo's skyline and protest portraits—to train image-generation models that now produce crude imitations of her style. Her experience highlights a broader concern among creative professionals who argue that AI threatens artistic livelihoods while degrading the quality of visual content across the internet. What happened: Crabapple led a workshop in Manhattan's Lower East Side called "Artists Against the Slop Beast," where she and tech editor Edward Ongweso Jr. outlined strategies for resisting AI adoption in creative industries. The big picture: Silicon Valley executives...
read Sep 16, 2025James Gunn mocks AI Batman image over funky anatomical errors like short arms
DC Studios filmmaker James Gunn mocked an AI-generated image of actor Brandon Sklenar as Batman, highlighting the technology's anatomical errors and signaling his opposition to artificial intelligence in superhero filmmaking. The public dismissal comes as Warner Bros Discovery has filed a lawsuit against AI image generator Midjourney for facilitating mass copyright infringement of its characters. What happened: Gunn responded to a fan's AI-generated Batman image on Threads, quipping "it would be weird to cast an AI Batman with a 14 inch arm."• The comment targeted the AI's failure to properly render human proportions, specifically pointing out unnaturally short appendages that...
read Sep 15, 2025Publish or perish: Rolling Stone owner sues Google over AI summaries feature
Penske Media Corporation, publisher of Rolling Stone, Variety, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter, has filed a federal lawsuit against Google over its AI Summaries feature. The suit alleges that Google is abusing its search monopoly to republish content without permission in AI-generated answers, violating U.S. antitrust laws and threatening the traditional web publishing model. What you should know: PMC claims Google's AI Summaries are significantly damaging publisher revenue and web traffic through unfair competition. The lawsuit accuses Google of "coercing online publishers like PMC to supply content that Google republishes without permission in AI-generated answers." PMC reports that 20% of...
read Sep 12, 2025Even dictionaries sue Perplexity AI over copyright infringement (but also false attributions)
Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica have filed a federal lawsuit against Perplexity AI, alleging the company's "answer engine" unlawfully scrapes and copies their copyrighted content without permission or compensation. The lawsuit also claims Perplexity generates false AI hallucinations that are wrongly attributed to the dictionary and encyclopedia publishers, seeking unspecified monetary damages and an injunction to stop the alleged misuse. What you should know: This marks the latest in a growing series of copyright lawsuits targeting Perplexity's content practices across multiple industries. The complaint was filed in New York federal court and seeks both monetary damages and a court order blocking...
read Sep 10, 2025Reddit, Yahoo and Medium launch new licensing standard for AI content
Major web publishers including Reddit, Yahoo, Medium, and People Inc. have adopted a new Really Simple Licensing (RSL) standard that allows them to set compensation terms for AI companies scraping their content. The initiative creates a structured approach for publishers to negotiate fair payment from AI firms, addressing the ongoing crisis in web publishing as artificial intelligence companies have historically used online content without compensation. What you should know: The RSL standard integrates licensing terms directly into the robots.txt protocol, the basic file that provides instructions for web crawlers. Supported licensing options include free, attribution, subscription, pay-per-crawl, and pay-per-inference models....
read Sep 10, 2025Court blocks Trump from firing top copyright official over AI report
A federal appeals court has blocked the Trump administration from firing the US' top copyright official, ruling that President Trump lacks the authority to remove Shira Perlmutter from her position as register of copyrights. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Perlmutter, who was allegedly fired for preparing an AI report Trump disagreed with, works for the legislative branch and can only be dismissed by the Senate-confirmed Librarian of Congress. What you should know: The 2-1 court decision represents a significant check on presidential power over legislative branch officials. Shira Perlmutter was appointed register of copyrights in 2020 by...
read Sep 9, 2025Welles estate slams Amazon’s AI resurrection of “Magnificent Ambersons”
Amazon plans to use AI to recreate 43 minutes of destroyed footage from Orson Welles' 1942 film "The Magnificent Ambersons," but the legendary director's estate says they weren't consulted about the project. The controversy highlights growing tensions between AI innovation and creative rights, particularly when it involves posthumous use of artists' work without family consent. What's happening: Edward Saatchi, CEO of Showrunner AI (recently backed by Amazon), announced plans to resurrect the "lost" footage by shooting sequences with live actors and using AI to face-swap their likenesses with the original cast.• The project aims to restore what Saatchi calls Welles'...
read Sep 9, 2025Judge rejects Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement as incomplete
A federal judge has rejected Anthropic's record-breaking $1.5 billion settlement for a copyright lawsuit filed by writers, calling the agreement "nowhere close to complete." Judge William Alsup expressed concern that class lawyers struck a deal that would be forced "down the throat of authors" without providing essential details about how the settlement would actually work. What you should know: The lawsuit involves around 500,000 authors who sued Anthropic, an AI company, for using pirated copies of their works to train its large language models. Authors were expected to receive $3,000 per work under the settlement terms. One of the lawyers...
read Sep 8, 2025Authors sue Apple for using pirated books to train AI models
Two authors have filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of using their copyrighted books without permission to train its AI models. Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson claim Apple's web scraper accessed "shadow libraries" containing pirated works, including their own, to develop Apple Intelligence—adding to the growing legal challenges facing tech companies over AI training data. What you should know: The lawsuit seeks class action status due to the vast number of books and authors potentially affected by Apple's alleged use of pirated content. The plaintiffs argue that Apple, despite being "one of the biggest companies in the world,"...
read Sep 5, 2025Anthropic to pay $1.5B in first US AI copyright settlement, does not formally admit wrongdoing
Anthropic has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by book authors alleging copyright infringement, marking the first AI copyright settlement in the United States. The company will pay approximately $3,000 for each copyrighted work it allegedly pirated from shadow libraries like LibGen while gathering training data for its AI models, setting a significant precedent for how AI companies must compensate creators for unauthorized use of their intellectual property. What you should know: This landmark settlement establishes the first legal precedent requiring AI companies to compensate copyright holders for unauthorized use of their...
read Sep 5, 2025Sen. Hawley wants to end Big Tech’s legal shield over AI training data
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called for the complete repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the legal shield protecting tech companies from lawsuits over user-generated content, during a Thursday speech at the National Conservatism Conference. The Missouri Republican specifically targeted AI companies' use of copyrighted material to train large language models, arguing that tech firms should face legal liability for unauthorized use of creative works. What they're saying: Hawley emphasized the massive scale of unauthorized content ingestion by AI systems and its impact on creators. "The AI large language models have already trained on enough copyrighted works to...
read Sep 4, 2025Ain’t AI a stinker? Warner Bros sues Midjourney for creating copyrighted characters
Warner Bros. has filed a lawsuit against Midjourney, an AI image generator, accusing the platform of willfully creating copyrighted images and videos of its characters including Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, and Tom and Jerry. The lawsuit marks the third major studio legal challenge against Midjourney, following similar cases from Disney and Universal in June, as Hollywood studios escalate their battle against AI platforms they claim are profiting from unauthorized use of their intellectual property. What you should know: Warner Bros. alleges that Midjourney recently removed safety guardrails that previously blocked users from creating videos that infringe on studio IP. The...
read Sep 1, 2025Mexico’s Supreme Court rules only humans can hold copyright protection
Mexico's Supreme Court has ruled that works created exclusively by artificial intelligence cannot be granted copyright protection, establishing that authorship belongs solely to humans. The unanimous decision creates a significant legal precedent for AI and intellectual property in Mexico, clarifying how the country will handle the growing intersection of AI technology and creative rights. What you should know: The Supreme Court determined that Mexico's Federal Copyright Law reserves authorship exclusively for humans, rejecting the idea that AI-generated works can qualify for copyright protection. The court ruled that automated systems lack the "necessary qualities of creativity, originality and individuality that are...
read Aug 27, 2025AI copies Chicago area artist’s work and forges his signature—now what?
Wheaton illustrator Jason Seiler discovered an AI-generated caricature circulating online that mimicked his distinctive artistic style and even included his forged signature. The case highlights the growing legal challenges artists face as AI tools can now replicate years of creative work in minutes, potentially threatening their livelihoods while existing copyright laws struggle to keep pace. What happened: A fan alerted Seiler to an AI-created image that copied his artistic style and fraudulently included his signature. "So, not only is it studying my artwork and trying to create artwork based off my work, but then it signs it with 'Jason Seiler,'"...
read Aug 27, 2025Anthropic settles $1T copyright lawsuit over AI training data
Anthropic has reached a preliminary settlement in a high-profile copyright lawsuit brought by book authors, avoiding what could have been more than $1 trillion in damages that threatened the company's survival. The settlement, expected to be finalized September 3, resolves a class action case where authors alleged Anthropic illegally used their works to train AI models by downloading them from "shadow libraries" like LibGen. The big picture: While a California judge ruled in June that Anthropic's use of the books constituted "fair use," he found that the company's method of acquiring works through piracy sites was illegal, leaving Anthropic vulnerable...
read Aug 25, 2025Perplexity launches $5 monthly Comet Plus sharing 80% revenue with publishers
Perplexity has launched Comet Plus, a new $5 monthly subscription that shares revenue with publishers when AI agents use their content to answer questions. The initiative addresses growing concerns about AI companies using publisher content without fair compensation, offering an 80% revenue split to participating publications. What you should know: Comet Plus represents a new approach to compensating publishers for AI-driven content usage beyond traditional web traffic. Publishers will receive 80% of the $5 monthly subscription fee, with the remaining 20% allocated to computing costs. The subscription gives users access to premium content from a group of trusted publishers and...
read Aug 14, 2025AI-generated “Peak” climbing game knockoffs flood digital stores as cloning gets easier
AI-generated clones of the hit climbing game Peak are flooding digital storefronts, with scammers using artificial intelligence tools to quickly create cheap knockoffs of the viral co-op title. The phenomenon highlights how AI is accelerating the longstanding problem of game cloning, making it easier than ever for bad actors to exploit successful indie games without any coding knowledge. What you should know: Peak has become a massive success story, selling over 8 million copies after reaching 1 million in its first week and currently ranking in Steam's top five bestsellers. Created by Aggro Crab and Landfall during a game jam,...
read Aug 14, 2025Licensing remains the biggest hurdle for enterprise AI adoption, says Freepik CEO
Freepik CEO Joaquín Cuenca Abela believes the generative AI boom is sustainable despite growing concerns about business models and market saturation. In an exclusive interview, Abela compared potential AI market corrections to the dot-com bubble of 2000—temporary setbacks in an otherwise transformative technology that's already generating billions in revenue from real users at an unprecedented pace. What you should know: Freepik has positioned itself as a bridge between AI innovation and enterprise compliance, addressing one of the biggest barriers to AI adoption. The company offers end-to-end legal protection and indemnity through its Enterprise plan, which has been "warmly received by...
read Aug 13, 2025Hidden Door launches AI role-playing platform with creator revenue sharing
Hidden Door has launched an AI-driven role-playing platform that allows users to create fan fiction within iconic fictional worlds through partnerships with creators and IP rights holders. The platform launches with titles including "Pride and Prejudice," "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Wizard of Oz," and "The Crow," offering a revenue-sharing model that aims to address AI copyright concerns while creating new monetization opportunities for content creators. How it works: The platform combines AI-driven storytelling with tabletop role-playing game mechanics to let fans expand on original creator visions.• Players create characters and embark on adventures guided by an omniscient AI Narrator,...
read Aug 12, 2025Creators are trying to roofie AI bots to prevent crawling and unauthorized training
Web-browsing bots now account for the majority of internet traffic for the first time, with AI company crawlers like ChatGPT-User and ClaudeBot representing 6% and 13% of all web traffic respectively. Content creators are fighting back with "AI poisoning" tools that corrupt training data, but these same techniques could be weaponized to spread misinformation at scale. The big picture: The battle between AI companies scraping data and content creators protecting their work has escalated beyond legal disputes into a technological arms race that could reshape how information flows across the internet. Key details: Major AI companies argue data scraping falls...
read Aug 11, 2025Pot calling kettle AI-generated: Midjourney claims studios use AI while suing for copyright
Midjourney has filed its first legal response to a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Disney and Universal Studios, arguing that AI training on copyrighted works constitutes protected "fair use" under copyright law. The AI image generation startup is pushing back against claims of "vast, intentional, and unrelenting copyright infringement," while accusing the entertainment giants of hypocrisy for using AI tools themselves while simultaneously seeking to restrict AI training practices. The big picture: This case represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal battle over AI training rights, with Midjourney challenging the studios' ability to control how their copyrighted content is...
read Aug 8, 2025Anthropic faces $1T mother of all copyright lawsuits that could reshape AI training
A federal appeals court is being urged to block the largest copyright class action ever certified against an AI company, with Anthropic facing up to $1 trillion in potential damages from 7 million claimants over its AI training practices. Industry groups warn that the lawsuit could "financially ruin" the entire AI sector and force companies into massive settlements rather than allowing courts to resolve fundamental questions about AI training legality. What you should know: Anthropic, a leading AI company, is challenging a district court's certification of a class action involving up to 7 million book authors whose works were allegedly...
read Aug 7, 2025Magician, heal thyself: Midjourney claims Disney hypocrisy amid AI company lawsuits
Midjourney has filed its first legal response to Disney and Universal's copyright infringement lawsuit, arguing that AI training constitutes protected "fair use" and accusing the studios of hypocrisy. The AI image platform's defense centers on claims that the entertainment giants are simultaneously using AI tools while seeking to restrict others from the same technology, potentially setting a precedent for how courts will balance AI innovation against traditional copyright protections. What you should know: Midjourney's legal team is mounting a comprehensive fair use defense while highlighting the studios' own AI usage. The company argues that "copyright law does not confer absolute...
read