AI industry warns massive copyright suit could cripple sector

Driving the news: AI industry groups are urging an appeals court in the United States to block what they call the largest copyright class action ever certified, warning it could “financially ruin” the industry.

• The lawsuit, brought by three authors over Anthropic’s AI training, could swell to seven million claimants, each eligible for up to $150,000 in damages.
  
• Anthropic says that’s hundreds of billions in potential liability, a “death knell” four months before trial.
  

Catch up fast:

• U.S. District Judge William Alsup certified the massive class, relying, Anthropic claims, on “50 years” of experience instead of a “rigorous analysis” of membership and ownership questions.
  
• Anthropic is petitioning the appeals court to reverse the decision, warning that the pressure to settle could wipe out its defenses and set precedent for other AI lawsuits.
  

Why it matters:

• Industry groups say allowing copyright class actions in AI training cases will chill investment, slow innovation, and jeopardise U.S. AI ‘leadership’.
  
• “The technology industry cannot withstand such devastating litigation,” wrote the Consumer Technology Association and Computer & Communications Industry Association.
  

Between the lines:

• Authors’ groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Library Association, and Authors Alliance, also back Anthropic’s appeal.
  
• They argue copyright suits are a poor fit for class actions:
  
  • Determining rights for millions of works is messy, orphan works, partial rights, defunct publishers, and deceased authors complicate ownership.
    
  • The court’s opt-out plan risks excluding authors who never hear about the case.
    
  • Google’s past $34.5m effort to build a “Books Rights Registry” shows how costly identifying rights holders can be.
    

The bottom line:
Both AI industry advocates and some author groups warn the current case risks forcing settlements without answering fundamental questions about AI training and copyright, leaving everyone in the dark.