Google Gemini Lawsuit: Publishers Sue Over AI Training
Publishers sue Google over Gemini AI training
Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, Elsevier, author Scott Turow, and S.C.R.I.B.E. have filed a lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the company used millions of copyrighted books and journal articles without permission to train its Gemini AI system. The complaint describes this as "one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history."
Key Points:
- Google accessed works through services like Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar for limited purposes such as searchable snippets or ebook sales.
- Plaintiffs argue these services did not grant Google permission to copy the works for AI training.
- The suit alleges Google also used web scrapes from "known pirate sources" and behind paywalls.
- It presents an internal Google document warning that training on copyrighted books could lead to significant legal exposure.
Alleged Harm:
Publishers argue Gemini now competes directly with the works it was trained on, producing outputs ranging from near-identical copies to textbook chapters and novel knockoffs. They cite examples like generating a 100-page murder mystery in 20 minutes for 39 cents.
Specific titles mentioned as used by Google:
- NK Jemisin’s The Fifth Season
- Lemony Snicket’s Who Could That Be at This Hour?
Requests:
Plaintiffs seek statutory damages, a permanent injunction, and an order requiring Google to destroy any unauthorized copies.
Context:
This case joins a growing wave of copyright lawsuits against AI companies for using copyrighted material as training data. Other prominent cases include:
- A suit by news outlets against OpenAI
- A separate case involving film studios suing AI companies