The authors claim Meta removed copyright management information to hide the alleged infringement.

A federal judge has ruled that an AI-related copyright lawsuit against Meta can move forward, though he dismissed part of the case.

The authors - Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - accuse the company of using their books to train its Llama AI models without permission, citing infringing on their intellectual property.

They also allege that Meta intentionally removed copyright management information (CMI) from their works to conceal the offense.

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Meta argues that its AI training falls under fair use and sought to have the case dismissed, claiming the authors lacked standing to sue.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria indicated he was inclined to let the case proceed but criticized what he saw as exaggerated rhetoric from the authors’ legal teams.

In Friday’s ruling, Chhabria stated that copyright infringement is obviously a concrete injury sufficient for standing and agreed that Meta intentionally had removed CMI to conceal copyright infringement.

At the same time, the judge dismissed the authors’ claims under the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, noting they had not alleged that Meta accessed their computers or servers—only their data in the form of their books.

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The lawsuit has already provided insights into Meta’s handling of copyright. Court filings from the plaintiffs suggest that Mark Zuckerberg authorized the Llama team to train the models using copyrighted works and that other Meta employees discussed using legally questionable content.

This case is one of several high-profile AI copyright lawsuits currently making their way through the courts, including The New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI.

Richard Kadrey is best-selling novelist, Sarah Silverman is a stand-up comedian and actress, and Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning writer and journalist.

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