Home / Technology / YouTubers Sue Snap Over AI Video Training
YouTubers Sue Snap Over AI Video Training
27 Jan
Summary
- YouTubers sue Snap, alleging unauthorized use of videos for AI training.
- Lawsuit claims Snap used academic datasets for commercial AI features.
- Creators seek damages and an injunction against alleged copyright infringement.
A group of influential YouTubers, collectively representing millions of subscribers, have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Snap. The creators allege that Snap has unlawfully used their video content to train its artificial intelligence systems for features such as the "Imagine Lens" tool. This legal action expands upon prior lawsuits filed by the same creators against other major tech companies, including Nvidia, Meta, and ByteDance, for similar alleged copyright infringements.
The newly filed complaint specifically accuses Snap of utilizing large-scale video-language datasets, such as HD-VILA-100M, which are intended for academic and research use only. The plaintiffs contend that Snap bypassed technological restrictions and terms of service to exploit these datasets for commercial AI development. The lawsuit seeks significant statutory damages and a permanent injunction to halt any ongoing copyright infringement by the company.
This case is emblematic of a broader legal conflict between content creators and AI developers. Numerous lawsuits have been initiated by various groups, including publishers, authors, artists, and user-generated content creators, against AI companies over intellectual property rights. While some cases have seen rulings in favor of tech giants, others have resulted in settlements, and many remain active in litigation.
