NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning and Elsevier have initiated a lawsuit against Google concerning its Gemini artificial intelligence platform. Author Scott Turow and his organization, S.C.R.I.B.E., have joined the proposed class action. The complaint was filed on July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs accuse Google of copying millions of copyrighted books and journal articles without permission during the development and training of Gemini. As of July 15, the court had not yet ruled on the allegations or approved the class.
According to the complaint, Google accessed materials through Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar. Publishers and authors provided works for specific functions such as search, sales, and research access. The plaintiffs argue these agreements did not authorize extensive commercial AI training. They also claim Google downloaded large web-scraped datasets containing copyrighted content, with some material sourced from known pirate sites and services behind paywalls.
The 57-page complaint outlines four federal claims. Three relate to alleged reproduction via Google services, web scraping, and Gemini’s development or training. The fourth involves violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The plaintiffs allege Google removed or altered copyright management information from training datasets. The filing also references internal discussions about using publisher-supplied books. One assessment estimates potential fines between $10 billion and $100 billion. These allegations have not yet been tested in court.
Class includes owners of registered copyrighted works
The proposed class comprises individuals and entities holding registered U.S. copyrights in qualifying books and journal articles. Eligible books must have an International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. Eligible articles must have a Digital Object Identifier or International Standard Serial Number. The class includes works allegedly copied from Google services or acquired during web scraping, as well as those reproduced during Gemini’s training or development.
Membership is also limited by copyright registration timing. One criterion requires registration within five years of publication and prior to Google’s alleged reproduction or distribution. Another requires registration within three months of publication. Exclusions apply to government agencies, Google affiliates, certain court participants, and individuals who properly opt out. The court must approve the class designation before the case proceeds against a broader group.
Legal claims include damages and an accounting order
The plaintiffs seek statutory damages or actual damages related to proven infringements. They also request Google’s profits attributable to any confirmed copyright violations. Their demands include an injunction, recovery of legal costs, and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify a total damages amount but asks Google to disclose Gemini training data, collection methods, and known capabilities via a court-ordered accounting.
This accounting would identify the copyrighted works used in Gemini’s training, describe how Google collected, copied, and processed those materials. The plaintiffs also seek court-supervised destruction of unauthorized copies held by Google. Previously, Hachette and Cengage aimed to join separate Google AI-related litigation in California. The New York suit expands the scope to include Elsevier, Turow, and S.C.R.I.B.E., with claims focusing on Google services, web scraping, and Gemini training activities.