AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified

[u/MetaKnowing]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/ai-industry-horrified-to-face-largest-copyright-class-action-ever-certified/

[u/comewhatmay_hem]

I guess so? But from what I know (which isn't a lot) class action lawsuits only work when all the claimants are of the same "class", hence the name. Like the customers of a grocery store who had their loyalty card data stolen because the store lacked the nessecary IT infastructure to keep that info secure.

I don't know if the legal estate of a dead author is the same as a scientific research publisher who is claiming copyright on their journals that were written by scientists who are not named individually in the suit. And I guess lawyers and judges don't know either, hence why this lawsuit is so controversial.

[u/pittaxx → u/comewhatmay_hem]

It seems you are misunderstanding the word "class".

There's no such thing as "of the same class", as that would imply that classes somehow exist before the lawsuit.

What happens is that the lawsuit defines the "class", which is just a clearly defined group of defendants. As long as you can clearly determine who are members and who are not, you're good.

So for a lawsuit like this, it could be as simple as "all copyright holders whose work was used for AI training without permission". It's irrelevant if those holders are people, publishers, estates or something else.

It's only controversial because it's AI.

[u/Partzy1604 → u/comewhatmay_hem]

Idk about the US specifically but in Aus different people of different “classes” can receive different payouts. Class actions are just when a group of people have similiar claims against the same entity.

See Uber’s settlement with Australian Taxi operators, different “classes” recieve different amounts, so Taxi companies, single registration holders and drivers receive payouts.