A US federal district judge is challenging Meta's 'copyright fair use' defense regarding the use of copyrighted materials to train its AI models. This dispute arises from a case filed in 2023 by comedian Sarah Silverman and two other authors against Meta and OpenAI. Meta contends that the use of copyrighted material for AI training falls under the fair use doctrine, a stance that Judge Vince Chhabria appears to question.

During a San Francisco court hearing, Judge Chhabria expressed skepticism, stating that Meta is using copyright-protected material to create a product capable of producing an infinite number of competing products. He argued that this could dramatically alter the market for the original work without compensating the copyright holder, questioning how this could be considered fair use.

Fair use traditionally permits the use of copyrighted materials without permission for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research. Meta argues that its AI systems fall under the 'research' aspect, claiming that its LLMs 'study' material to create transformative new content. However, Judge Chhabria noted that while the copying is for a transformative purpose, it could flood the market with competing copyrighted works.

The judge raised concerns about the impact on lesser-known creators, suggesting that if Meta's model generates many songs in the style of a relatively unknown artist, it could stifle their career. He pressed Meta's attorneys on this broader impact, while also challenging the plaintiff's legal team to provide concrete evidence that Meta's AI outputs would harm the market for specific works, like Silverman's memoir.

The outcome of this case could significantly influence how U.S. courts interpret fair use in the context of AI training and copyright law, potentially setting a major precedent for future cases.