YouTube users are suing Snap over alleged copyright infringement in training its AI models

A group of YouTubers who are suing the tech giants for stealing their videos without permission to train AI models has added Snap to their list of defendants. The plaintiffs — the internet content creators behind three YouTube channels with nearly 6.2 million collective subscribers — allege that Snap trained its AI systems on their video content for use in AI features like the “App.”Visualize the lens“, which allows users to edit images using text prompts.

Plaintiffs had previously filed similar lawsuits against nvidia mita, And ByteDance On similar matters.

In the newly proposed class action lawsuit suitfiled Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, YouTube users specifically criticize Snap for its use of an extensive video language data set known as… HD-Villa-100mAnd others that are designed for academic and research purposes only. To use these data sets for commercial purposes, the plaintiffs allege that Snap circumvented technological limitations, terms of service, and licensing restrictions imposed by YouTube, which prohibit commercial use.

The lawsuit seeks statutory damages and a permanent injunction to stop the alleged copyright infringement.

The issue itself is driven by the creators behind h3h3 YouTube channel, with 5.52 million subscribers, and smaller golf channels MrShortGame Golf and Golfholics.

It is now One of many lawsuits filed by content creators Against AI model providers, which involved copyright disputes from Publishers, Authors, Newspapers, User generated content sites, Artistsand more. It is too Not the first A case descending from A YouTube user. According to the non-profit copyright organization, More than 70 cases of copyright infringement It has been filed against artificial intelligence companies.

In some cases, such as one in between Meta and a group of authorsThe judge ruled in favor of the tech giant. In others, the same is the case between Anthropic and a group of authorsthe artificial intelligence giant settled with the plaintiffs and paid them money to resolve their claims. Many cases remain in active litigation.

Snap was asked for comment. TechCrunch will update if it becomes available.