In a landmark decision for the AI industry, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Anthropic’s use of books to train its artificial intelligence system, Claude, constitutes fair use under U.S. copyright law. This ruling supports the tech industry’s argument that using copyrighted material to train AI can be transformative and thus legal. However, the judge also found Anthropic at fault for storing over 7 million pirated books in a central library, which infringed on the authors’ copyrights, setting the stage for a trial in December to determine damages.
This case highlights the ongoing debate over the balance between copyright protection and fostering innovation in the rapidly evolving field of AI. While the court recognized the transformative nature of Anthropic’s AI training, it also underscored the illegality of sourcing copyrighted materials from pirated collections. This decision marks a significant moment in the legal challenges surrounding AI and copyright, emphasizing the need for AI companies to navigate copyright laws carefully while pushing the boundaries of technological advancement.
Read more at Reuters…