A collective of YouTubers has escalated their legal battle against tech firms by including Snap in their lawsuit, alleging unauthorized use of their videos to train AI models. The plaintiffs, who manage three popular YouTube channels with a combined following of approximately 6.2 million subscribers, claim that Snap has utilized their content for its AI features, notably the “Imagine Lens,” which enables users to modify images through text prompts.
Previously, the creators filed similar suits against industry giants Nvidia, Meta, and ByteDance, citing concerns over copyright violations.
In a proposed class action lodged on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the YouTubers specifically criticize Snap’s alleged reliance on the HD-VILA-100M video-language dataset, among others, which were intended solely for academic and research applications. The lawsuit asserts that Snap bypassed YouTube’s terms of service, technological safeguards, and licensing agreements that forbid commercial exploitation of user-generated content.
The YouTubers are seeking statutory damages and a court injunction to prevent future copyright infringements.
This case is spearheaded by the creators behind the h3h3 YouTube channel, which boasts 5.52 million subscribers, as well as smaller channels like MrShortGame Golf and Golfoholics. This lawsuit is part of a broader trend, where content creators are confronting AI model developers over similar copyright concerns. According to Copyright Alliance, over 70 such cases have arisen against AI companies, reflecting widespread tension in the digital content landscape.
While some legal disputes, such as those between Meta and authors, have favored tech companies, others, like a settlement involving Anthropic, demonstrate that litigation outcomes can vary significantly, leaving many cases still unresolved.
