Authors' lucky break in court may help class action over Meta torrenting

A recent court ruling has potentially bolstered a class action lawsuit against Meta, alleging copyright infringement through its torrenting of data for AI training. While Meta hopes a recent Supreme Court decision limiting ISP liability for user piracy will protect it, a judge has allowed plaintiffs to add a claim of contributory infringement – a potentially easier argument to win than a direct infringement claim previously made. This new claim focuses on Meta’s alleged facilitation of torrent transfers, rather than requiring proof that Meta fully distributed copyrighted works.

The judge, however, expressed frustration with the authors’ lawyers, accusing them of prioritizing “bashing” Meta over diligently pursuing their legal arguments and delaying the addition of this crucial claim. Despite this criticism, the judge allowed the claim to proceed, partly because of scheduling alignment with a separate case and to protect the interests of potential class members.

Meta is now preparing to argue that the Supreme Court ruling supports its position, but the authors are prepared to counter with arguments about Meta’s knowledge of torrenting practices and are seeking to challenge attorney-client privilege to reveal internal discussions about the practice. The case hinges on whether Meta can be proven to have affirmatively induced copyright infringement or merely provided a service used by others to infringe.

(Source：Ars Technica)