Nearly 300 Authors File Individual Copyright Suits Against Meta Over AI Training Books
On October 19, almost 300 authors filed individual copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta Platforms in the Northern District of California. They allege that their books were used without consent for AI training purposes. Instead of joining forces in a class action, each writer is pursuing their own claim. Attorney Kyle Roche, who represents over 2,200 writers, plans to submit around 1,000 claims by year’s end. The lawsuits are organized into five distinct complaints named after the plaintiffs: Winspear, Levine, Reno, Sheard, and Older v. Meta Platforms. The authors are seeking up to $150,000 in statutory damages for each of their works. Jury trials are set to start on May 3, 2027, with public documents due by December 16.
Key facts
- Nearly 300 authors filed copyright claims against Meta Platforms on October 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Attorney Kyle Roche said his firm represents more than 2,200 authors and plans up to 1,000 individual claims by year's end
- The claims are spread across five complaints named Winspear, Levine, Reno, Sheard and Older v. Meta Platforms
- Plaintiffs seek statutory damages up to $150,000 per work, versus roughly $3,000 per work in the $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement
- The complaint alleges Meta used LibGen, Z-Library, Anna's Archive and the Books3 dataset, often via BitTorrent
- Meta allegedly ran a book-scanning program called Project Vellum around mid-2025 to train Muse Spark and Muse Glimmer, released in April and August 2026
- Related cases from Chicken Soup for the Soul, Cognella and Cambronne are set for jury trials beginning May 3, 2027
- Judge Vince Chhabria in August rejected Meta's bid to block a deposition of CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Entities
Artists
- Jacqueline Winspear
- Reyna Grande
- Mark Spragg
- Rachel Nuwer
- Silvia Foti
- Minxin Pei
- John Carreyrou
- Kyle Roche
- Elizabeth Brannen
- Mary Rasenberger
- Mark Zuckerberg
- William Alsup
- Vince Chhabria
Institutions
- Meta Platforms
- Freedman Normand Friedland
- Stris & Maher
- Barnes & Noble
- ClaimsHero
- Anthropic
- Chicken Soup for the Soul
- Cognella
- Cambronne
- Authors Guild
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- LibGen
- Z-Library
- Anna's Archive
- Publishers Weekly
Locations
- California
- United States