Publishers Sue Google, Alleging Gemini Was Trained on Copyrighted Books

Google is facing a new copyright lawsuit from Hachette Book Group, Cengage, Elsevier and author Scott Turow, who allege the company used copyrighted books and other works to train Gemini without permission or payment.

The lawsuit was filed July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The publishers and Turow claim Google relied on copyrighted material available online and through Google Books to train its AI system, violating copyright law.

The complaint argues that Gemini’s ability to generate book-length material depends on Google’s use of protected works. “The scale and speed at which Gemini can create books and compete with human writers is unprecedented,” the complaint says, “and it can only do that because Google copied plaintiffs' and the class's works to train its AI.”

Google and lawyers for the publishers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case adds Google to the growing list of AI companies accused of using copyrighted material to build generative AI systems. Publishers, authors and other rights holders have argued that AI developers need permission or compensation before using protected works as training data.

The plaintiffs also point to Google’s existing relationships with publishers, alleging the company used access to works online to benefit its AI products. The complaint says Google “cashed in” on those relationships by “brazenly copying millions of copyrighted works.”

The lawsuit follows similar claims brought by some of the same publishers against Meta in May, alongside McGraw-Hill and Macmillan. It also comes as copyright has become one of the central legal fights around generative AI, where companies depend on large datasets and creators argue that their work has been used without authorization.

Google has faced other copyright-related challenges tied to AI. Disney sent the company a cease-and-desist order in December, accusing Google’s Nano Banana image model and other video models of taking a “free ride off Disney's intellectual property” by generating content featuring its characters.

The publishing industry has also been grappling with AI from another direction. Hachette canceled the U.S. release of Mia Ballard’s horror novel “Shy Girl” after allegations that generative AI was used to write it, a dispute that angered parts of the book community and violated the publisher’s rules.

Recent court decisions in major copyright cases involving Anthropic and Meta sided with the AI companies, though the judges said future cases may be decided differently. In the Google lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that AI companies are not exempt from longstanding copyright rules.

“Copyright law applies to AI companies, including Google, with the same force as every other company that has complied with these laws for decades,” the plaintiffs wrote.

This analysis is based on reporting from CNET.

Image courtesy of Google.

This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.