Apple accused of copyright infringement over AI training on YouTube videos

A class action lawsuit has been submitted to a federal court in California against Apple. The case was initiated by video content creators who argue that their works were used without consent in the development of artificial intelligence technologies. The filing was reported by MacRumors.

Creators allege unauthorized use of content

The plaintiffs include the owners of h3h3Productions, along with H3 Podcast and H3 Podcast Highlights, as well as MrShortGame Golf and Golfholics.

They claim that their YouTube videos may have been collected and used to train AI models. The lawsuit states that such actions could violate the DMCA, which governs the protection of digital content.

Claims involve alleged circumvention of platform safeguards

According to the complaint, Apple may have bypassed technical safeguards designed to prevent large-scale data scraping. The plaintiffs argue that this allowed access to substantial volumes of copyrighted video content without notifying or obtaining permission from the creators.

As supporting evidence, they refer to research publications that allegedly mention the use of specific videos from their channels in AI training processes.

Plaintiffs demand a ban and compensation

The creators are seeking to stop further use of their content and are demanding compensation. The lawsuit is filed not only on their behalf but also on behalf of other U.S.-based content creators who may have faced similar issues.

The complaint emphasizes that such practices raise broader concerns within the digital content ecosystem, particularly amid the rapid growth of generative AI technologies.

Similar claims have been raised before

It is noted that the same creators have previously been involved in legal actions against major tech companies. Comparable allegations were earlier brought against Meta, NVIDIA, ByteDance, and Snap.