YouTubers sue Snap over alleged use of their videos for AI training

A group of YouTubers suing technology companies over the alleged use of their videos to train AI models has added Snap to its list of defendants, according to a report by TechCrunch.

The plaintiffs are content creators who run three YouTube channels with a combined following of about 6.2 million subscribers. They allege that Snap used their videos without permission to train its AI systems, including tools used for features such as the app’s ‘Imagine Lens,’ which allows users to edit images through text prompts.

The creators had previously filed similar lawsuits against Nvidia, Meta and ByteDance.

In a proposed class action filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the plaintiffs accuse Snap of using large-scale video and language datasets, including HD-VILA-100M. They say these datasets were intended only for academic and research purposes and not for commercial use.

The lawsuit claims Snap bypassed YouTube’s technological safeguards, terms of service and licensing restrictions, which prohibit commercial use of such content. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages and a permanent injunction to stop the alleged copyright infringement.

The case is led by the creators behind the h3h3 YouTube channel, which has about 5.52 million subscribers, along with smaller channels MrShortGame Golf and Golfholics.

The lawsuit is part of a growing number of legal actions brought by content creators and rights holders against AI companies. According to the nonprofit Copyright Alliance, more than 70 copyright infringement cases have been filed against AI firms.

Some cases have been resolved in favour of technology companies, while others have ended in settlements.