Meta Wins Key AI Copyright Case on Fair Use Grounds

A federal court delivered a landmark ruling favoring Meta Platforms Inc. in its AI copyright battle. Judge Vince Chhabria determined the company's use of copyrighted materials to train its Llama AI models qualifies as transformative fair use under US law. The decision deals a blow to authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates, who alleged Meta improperly sourced content from shadow libraries like LibGen.

While the judgment represents a significant precedent for generative AI development, Chhabria emphasized the narrow technical basis of the ruling. Meta successfully argued the transformative nature of its AI training processes, regardless of content acquisition methods. The case underscores growing tensions between creative industries and tech giants over AI's data appetite.