Table of Contents
- Background of the Lawsuit
- Which AI Companies Are Named
- Key Allegations Explained
- Why Authors Opted Out of Settlement
- What This Case Means for AI Industry
Background of the Lawsuit
A group of authors, including New York Times investigative reporter John Carreyrou, has filed a new copyright infringement lawsuit against several major artificial intelligence companies. The lawsuit alleges that copyrighted books were unlawfully used to train large language models without permission or compensation.
The case follows growing legal pressure on AI firms as authors, publishers, and media organisations challenge how training data is sourced. This lawsuit comes after an earlier case involving Anthropic, where some authors chose to reject an out-of-court settlement.
Which AI Companies Are Named
According to court documents filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the defendants include Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, Perplexity, and Elon Musk-owned xAI.
This marks the first time xAI has been named in a copyright infringement lawsuit, making the case particularly significant. Other companies named are already facing multiple legal challenges related to AI training data.
Carreyrou and the five other authors have opted against a class action lawsuit and have taken it up individually. This makes sense as the last time this group filed the lawsuit against Anthropic, the final settlement amount was $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 13,470 crore), but each author was only entitled to $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2.6 lakh). The main allegation is that these companies are using their copyrighted work to train large language models (LLMs).
Key Allegations Explained
The plaintiffs allege that the companies deliberately used pirated copies of copyrighted books sourced from shadow-library websites such as LibGen, Z-Library, and OceanofPDF.
According to the lawsuit, these works were reproduced, analysed, and embedded into AI models to accelerate commercial development. The authors argue that this amounts to direct copyright infringement rather than fair use.
One of the defendants, Perplexity, has reportedly denied the allegations, stating that its platform does not index books.
Why Authors Opted Out of Settlement
John Carreyrou and several other authors had previously sued Anthropic in a similar case. That lawsuit ended in a reported $1.5 billion settlement. However, individual authors received only around $3,000 each.
This time, the plaintiffs chose to file individual lawsuits rather than participate in a class action. They are seeking statutory damages, transparency around training data, and a jury trial.
this is the first time a copyright infringement lawsuit has named xAI as a defendant. Perplexity, on the other hand, has reportedly denied the allegations. A company spokesperson told the publication that the platform does not index books.
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“This case concerns a straightforward and deliberate act of theft that constitutes copyright infringement,” the document alleged, adding, “Rather than obtain licences or pay for the use of these works, each defendant downloaded pirated copies of plaintiffs’ books from shadow-library websites such as LibGen, Z-Library, and OceanofPDF and then reproduced, parsed, analysed, re-copied, used, and embedded those works into their LLMs (and/or used those works to optimize their product) to accelerate commercial development and win the generative-AI race.”
What This Case Means for AI Industry
The lawsuit could have far-reaching consequences for the generative AI industry. If successful, it may force companies to disclose training data sources, negotiate licensing deals, or rethink how models are trained.
As governments and courts continue to examine AI practices, this case could become a landmark moment in defining copyright boundaries for artificial intelligence.
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By The News Update — Updated December 24, 2025
