Apple accused of stealing YouTube videos: What’s behind the lawsuit
Apple uses YouTube videos to train AI (photo: Getty Images)
Apple has found itself at the center of a high-profile legal controversy. Three popular YouTube channels have filed a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing it of illegally using copyrighted videos to train its AI models, according to the court documents.
Bypassing protections and pirate AI training
The lawsuit was filed by creators of YouTube channels h3h3 Productions, MrShortGameGolf, and Golfholics. They claim that Apple violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by secretly downloading content without the owners’ permission.
According to court documents, Apple deliberately bypassed the controlled streaming architecture system, which limits regular users. Instead of simply viewing the content, the company used automated scraping (a process of collecting data from websites using specialized software tools) to gather gigabytes of data.
The creators emphasize that the financial success of Apple’s AI products would have been impossible without the free use of their intellectual property.
A series of AI scandals in Big Tech
Apple is not the only company targeted by creators. Similar lawsuits have already been filed against Meta, Nvidia, ByteDance, and Snap.
Notably, the tech world has long been facing a wave of legal challenges regarding AI training methods:
- OpenAI and Microsoft have previously been sued by The New York Times;
- Perplexity is in legal disputes with Reddit and Encyclopedia Britannica;
- Apple is already suing neuroscience professors for using their work without consent.
So far, Apple has not officially commented on the new accusations. Lawyers note that this precedent could change the rules of the game, potentially requiring tech corporations to pay creators for every minute of video used to train their AI models.
