Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) is facing a lawsuit in France over alleged copyright infringement related to its AI training practices.
On Wednesday, three prominent French publishing and authors' associations filed a legal complaint against Meta in a Paris court.
The National Publishing Union, the National Union of Authors and Composers, and the Society of People of Letters allege Meta used copyrighted content without authorization to train its artificial intelligence systems, including its large language model Llama.
They allege that Meta has engaged in "economic parasitism" by extensively utilizing copyright-protected materials such as books, articles, and other literary works without proper permissions or compensation.
They claim this constitutes a "monumental looting" of their intellectual property.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind against an AI giant in France.
The company is facing similar legal action in the US over its alleged use of protected materials to train its language models.