Hachette Book Group (HBG) and Cengage have moved to intervene in a class action lawsuit against Google, the Bookseller reports. The case was first brought in 2023 by writers and illustrators accusing the company of copyright infringement by using their books to build and train its AI system Gemini.
The publishers said Google had “engaged in one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history” by using their books without permission.
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) said in a statement: “The publishers have moved to intervene now given recent efforts by the individual plaintiffs to certify a class that includes publishers as copyright owners of many works in suit, and Google’s objection to that effort on various grounds, including purported intra-class complexities.
“Direct participation by publishers would help address these and other issues so that the case can move forward, further underscoring that publishers are united with authors in this litigation.”
The AAP continued that the publishers’ involvement “would provide a level of expertise and evidence that is of utmost importance in the continuing fight to hold AI companies accountable under the Copyright Act”.
Maria A Pallante, AAP president and CEO, commented: “We thank Cengage Group and Hachette Book Group for their leadership… as the outcome of this case could have far-reaching consequences for the legal rights, remedies and livelihoods of authors and publishers.
“It is no secret that Google and other tech companies have copied books with impunity to fuel their large language AI products. Yet they continue to assert sweeping arguments that would exempt them entirely from the basic rules of permission and accountability that have governed content-intensive technology markets for decades.”