A group of 57 book authors, led by Daniel Jose Older, filed a copyright lawsuit against Meta on October 19, adding another case to the legal dispute over the use of copyrighted works in artificial intelligence. The filing came on the same day as a separate author lawsuit, Winspear v. Meta.
The litigation-tracking site ChatGPT Is Eating the World counted Older v. Meta as the 150th copyright lawsuit filed against AI companies in the United States. That figure represents the site's tally of filed cases, not a count of judgments or findings that companies infringed copyright.
The new complaint advances substantially the same theories of copyright liability as the Winspear lawsuit, the site reported. The two filings expand the group of authors pursuing claims against Meta, which already faces litigation involving book authors and publishers. The available account does not detail the individual works at issue or the specific relief sought in the Older case.
Both new cases are expected to be assigned to Judge Vince Chhabria, who oversees the existing book-author and publisher copyright cases against Meta, the site reported. That assignment was described as likely rather than confirmed. Having related disputes before the same judge can help coordinate proceedings, although each complaint remains subject to its own procedural treatment and legal assessment.
The filings form part of a broader contest over how copyright law applies to generative AI. Such systems are developed using large collections of material, and litigation across the industry has raised questions about when copying protected works during development requires permission. Those questions are distinct from whether a system's output reproduces protected expression, another potential issue in AI copyright disputes.
Copyright generally protects an author's original expression rather than ideas, facts or subject matter. In the United States, fair use can permit some uses of copyrighted material without authorization. Courts assess that defense through a context-specific inquiry, including the purpose of the use, the nature of the work, the amount used and the effect on the potential market for the copyrighted material. The existence of an AI-related use does not, by itself, resolve that analysis.
The number of lawsuits also does not establish a uniform answer to those questions. Cases can involve different works, different alleged conduct and different evidence about how material was obtained or used. A ruling addressing one set of circumstances may therefore leave other claims unresolved.
For the Older plaintiffs, filing the complaint begins the process of presenting their allegations for judicial review; it does not establish liability. The next procedural question identified in the report is whether Older and Winspear will join the related Meta copyright disputes before Chhabria.
Sources: ChatGPT Is Eating the World