Apple asks court to dismiss copyright lawsuit by YouTube channels
What's the story
Apple has responded to a class-action lawsuit filed by three popular YouTube channels, a court document viewed by MacRumors reveals. The lawsuit, which was filed in April, accuses Apple of violating the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by illegally scraping millions of copyrighted videos from YouTube for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The channels involved are h3h3Productions, MrShortGame Golf, and Golfholics.
Allegations
YouTube channels allege illegal scraping of videos
The owners of the three YouTube channels allege that Apple "deliberately circumvented" YouTube's protections against video scraping and "profited substantially" from it. They claim Apple's actions were not just illegal but also an "unconscionable attack on the community of content creators." The complaint further alleges that these actions were taken without any compensation to the creators whose content was used for training Apple's AI models.
Defense strategy
Apple argues videos were publicly available on YouTube
In response to the lawsuit, Apple has argued that the plaintiffs made their videos publicly available on YouTube. The tech giant contends it was allowed under DMCA and YouTube's Terms of Service to access these videos. "Plaintiffs allege that they posted audiovisual works to YouTube, and that any member of the public can see them there," reads Apple's response.
Legal action
Apple requests court to dismiss the lawsuit
Apple has also argued that YouTube provides public access to the videos, which means the alleged technological measures don't control access to the works as per SS 1201(a). The tech giant claims that the plaintiffs have ultimately failed to state a claim and has requested the court dismiss this lawsuit. This is just one of many similar lawsuits against major tech companies over their use of publicly available content for AI training.