Judge Rules Blacked.com Can Sue Meta for Scraping Its Porn
A federal judge has ruled that Meta must defend against lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Blacked.com over claims its AI models were trained using pirated adult content. The case can now proceed to discovery, with legal experts watching closely. Meta denies wrongdoing and previously argued unauthorized access came from rogue employees. A judge dismissed that claim as implausible.
What changed
The ruling now explicitly extends to Blacked.com’s lawsuit, adding another plaintiff to the case against Meta for scraping adult content.
Live updates
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Judge Allows Blacked.com to Sue Meta Over Alleged Porn Scraping for AI
confidence 93%A federal judge has ruled that Meta must defend against lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Blacked.com over claims its AI models were trained using pirated adult content. The case can now proceed to discovery, with legal experts watching closely. Meta denies wrongdoing and previously argued unauthorized access came from rogue employees. A judge dismissed that claim as implausible.
What's confirmed:
- A U.S. District Judge in Northern California rejected Meta’s motion to dismiss lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Blacked.com, allowing claims of copyright infringement over AI training to proceed.
- The court found Meta’s argument that unauthorized data access was caused by rogue employees ‘strains credulity,’ citing evidence of systematic scraping.
- Strike 3 Holdings alleges Meta pirated thousands of videos from Vixen.com and Tushy.com for AI development, with internal Meta emails showing downloads of over 81 terabytes from Anna’s Archive.
- Meta denies any wrongdoing and maintains it did not directly infringe copyrights, though the case now includes claims of direct, vicarious, and contributory infringement.
Still unconfirmed:
- Legal experts suggest the ruling could set a precedent for how tech firms use copyrighted material in AI training, though no further cases have yet cited this decision.
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Judge Allows Blacked.com and VMG to Sue Meta Over AI Porn Scraping Allegations
confidence 95%A U.S. federal judge has ruled that Meta must defend against lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, including Blacked.com’s parent company, alleging copyright infringement by scraping pirated adult content for AI training. The case now proceeds with discovery, while Meta denies wrongdoing and claims rogue employees were responsible. Legal experts say the ruling could set a precedent for how tech firms use copyrighted material in AI development. The judge rejected Meta’s dismissal motion, citing implausible claims about employee misconduct.
What's confirmed:
- A U.S. federal judge in the Northern District of California has ruled that Meta must face lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, including Blacked.com’s parent company, alleging copyright infringement by scraping pirated adult content for AI training.
- The judge found Meta’s claim that unauthorized access stemmed from rogue employees ‘strains credulity,’ citing evidence of systematic scraping including over 81 terabytes of data downloaded from Anna’s Archive.
- Strike 3 Holdings alleges Meta trained its AI models using pirated content from Vixen.com and Tushy.com, among other adult film sites owned by the company.
- Meta denies wrongdoing and maintains its AI training data was legally sourced, though the company has not provided public details on its data collection practices.
- The ruling permits discovery to proceed, with legal experts suggesting it could influence how tech firms handle copyrighted material in AI development.
Still unconfirmed:
- Internal Meta emails referenced in a separate lawsuit allegedly showed the company downloaded over 81 terabytes of data from Anna’s Archive, though the exact context and timeline remain unclear.
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Judge Allows Adult Film Companies to Sue Meta Over AI Training Data Scraping
confidence 100%A U.S. federal judge has upheld copyright lawsuits from Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media against Meta, rejecting the company’s attempt to dismiss claims that its AI models were trained using pirated adult films. The ruling permits the case to move forward, with discovery now underway. Legal experts say the decision could influence how tech firms use copyrighted material for AI development. Meta’s argument that unauthorized access stemmed from rogue employees was dismissed.
What's confirmed:
- U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit filed by Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media.
- The judge ruled the companies can proceed with claims that Meta used pirated adult films to train AI models, rejecting Meta’s argument that unauthorized access was limited to rogue employees.
- Discovery in the case is now underway following the dismissal of Meta’s motion.
- A California judge’s ruling explicitly states that the lawsuits allege large-scale unauthorized downloads of adult film content for AI training purposes.
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Judge Lets Porn Site Strike 3 Sue Meta Over AI Scraping Claims
confidence 98%A U.S. federal judge has rejected Meta’s attempt to dismiss Strike 3 Holdings’ copyright lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed on claims that Meta used pirated adult films to train AI models. The ruling dismisses Meta’s argument that unauthorized access came from rogue employees. Legal experts say the decision could set a precedent for how tech companies use copyrighted material for AI development. Discovery phase is now underway.
What's confirmed:
- A federal judge has denied Meta’s motion to dismiss Strike 3 Holdings’ copyright lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.
- Strike 3 Holdings alleges Meta pirated thousands of copyrighted adult videos to train its AI models without permission.
- The ruling rejects Meta’s defense that unauthorized access to the videos was due to rogue employees.
- The case now moves to the discovery phase, with potential broader implications for AI training and copyright law.
- Meta allegedly used BitTorrent to access the copyrighted adult films.
Still unconfirmed:
- The lawsuit raises major copyright and privacy concerns beyond the immediate case.
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Judge Lets Porn Site Sue Meta Over Alleged AI Training Scraping
confidence 95%A U.S. federal judge has dismissed Meta’s attempt to dismiss Strike 3 Holdings’ copyright lawsuit, allowing claims that Meta scraped thousands of adult films without permission to train AI. The case now moves to discovery, with legal analysts suggesting broader implications for AI training and copyright law. Meta’s argument that unauthorized access came from rogue employees was rejected. The ruling intensifies scrutiny on tech companies’ data practices.
What's confirmed:
- A U.S. federal judge rejected Meta’s motion to dismiss Strike 3 Holdings’ copyright lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed over allegations of unauthorized scraping of adult films for AI training.
- The ruling rejects Meta’s defense that the unauthorized access was due to rogue employees, leaving the company exposed to liability for alleged large-scale scraping.
- Legal analysts say the decision could influence future cases involving AI training and the use of copyrighted material.
- The case has now advanced to the discovery phase, where both sides will exchange evidence.
Still unconfirmed:
- Meta allegedly mass-downloaded 2,300 pirated adult films to train its AI models, according to one source.
- The ruling could reshape how AI companies use online content, though broader industry impact remains speculative.
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Judge Allows Strike 3 Lawsuit Against Meta Over AI Porn Scraping Claims
confidence 95%A U.S. federal judge has rejected Meta’s attempt to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from Strike 3 Holdings, allowing the case to proceed over allegations that Meta scraped thousands of adult films without permission to train AI. The ruling rejects Meta’s argument that unauthorized access stemmed from rogue employees. Legal analysts say this could influence future cases on AI training and copyrighted material. The case now moves to discovery.
What's confirmed:
- U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit filed by Strike 3 Holdings, allowing claims that Meta pirated thousands of adult films for AI training to advance.
- The ruling rejects Meta’s defense that unauthorized access to adult films was caused by rogue employees acting outside company policy.
- Legal experts say the decision could establish a precedent for how copyrighted material is used in training AI models.
Still unconfirmed:
- A source suggests the lawsuit involves allegations that Meta paid employees to illegally download adult content for AI training.
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Judge Allows Blacked.com Lawsuit Against Meta Over AI Scraping
confidence 92%A U.S. judge has denied Meta’s motion to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, ruling the company can proceed with claims that Meta scraped thousands of adult films to train AI without permission. The decision rejects Meta’s argument that unauthorized access was due to rogue employees. Legal experts say the ruling could set a precedent for how copyrighted material is used in AI training.
What's confirmed:
- Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, owners of Blacked.com, Vixen.com, and Tushy.com, can now sue Meta for copyright infringement over alleged scraping of their adult films for AI training.
- A judge found Meta’s claim that unauthorized access was caused by rogue employees ‘strains credulity,’ allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
- Meta reportedly used copyright-protected adult films to train AI models, according to multiple legal sources.
- Strike 3 Holdings frequently sues entities accused of torrenting its adult films, using software to identify alleged infringers.
- The ruling marks the first major legal setback for Meta in disputes over AI training data sourcing.
Still unconfirmed:
- Meta may appeal the ruling, as authors and creators have previously sought to challenge pro-Meta fair-use decisions in other copyright cases.