Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit that accuses the company of using pirated books to train its artificial intelligence models, Apple Intelligence. The lawsuit claims that the company has allegedly used Books3, pirate books protected by copyright, to train its OpenELM language models, which include the works of the plaintiffs, Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson. They also allege that these works have been used to train its Foundation Language Models.
Hendrix and Roberson not only accuse Apple of using their work without consent but also of failing to compensate the authors and of concealing the sources of their data. In addition, the lawsuit also includes the existence of a private library of AI training data, including thousands of pirated books protected by copyright. The plaintiffs demand a jury trial and that injunctions be applied, compensatory legal damages among many others. The law firms representing this lawsuit are Keller Rohrback LLP and Butterick Law P.C.
Apple Inc.
Who today does not know the company Apple Inc.? It is a multinational technology company considered the largest information and communication technology company in the world. It is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and is famous for the design and manufacturing of electronic products, software, and online services. The iPhone quickly comes to mind, but the company’s catalog is much broader: iPhone, iPad, iMac, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, and in terms of software, its operating system iOS is well-known.
Hendrix, et al. v. Apple Inc.
Apple is facing a class action lawsuit led by Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson. These authors allege that their copyrighted works have been used by the Apple brand to train its artificial intelligence. Have you heard of Boosk3? It is a dataset of pirate books with copyrights, which the plaintiffs claim Apple has used to train its OpenELM language models. Additionally, they also allege that their Foundation Language Models have also been trained with the same database. According to the lawsuit, “The plaintiffs and the Class are authors who have registered copyrights for their published works. They did not authorize the use of their works in any Apple intelligence model, including Foundation intelligence models and the OpenELM language model”.
According to the authors, Apple has not only used their copyrighted works without permission, but has also not compensated the affected authors, and has hidden its data sources. They accuse the company of continuing to maintain a private library of AI training data. This includes, according to the plaintiffs, thousands of pirated books that they use to train and teach their language models without needing to pay for copyright rights or ask for permission. “Apple has copied the copyrighted works of the plaintiffs and the class to train AI models whose outputs compete with and dilute the market for those same works – works without which Apple Intelligence would have much less commercial value”, states the lawsuit.
What are the plaintiffs requesting?
Plaintiffs Hendrix and Roberson demand a jury trial and that injunctive relief be granted in the form of legal damages, compensatory damages, restitution, discharge and attorneys’ fees. This is sought for each member of the class action. Additionally, they invite anyone or entity with registered copyright rights to join the lawsuit if they believe their work has been used by Apple without their consent.
The name of the AppleAI class action is Hendrix, et al. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-07558, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. The attorneys in charge are Benjamin Gould, Derek W. Loeser, Chris N. Ryder, William K. Dreher, and Elizabeth W. Tarbell of Keller Rohrback LLP and Matthew Butterick of Butterick Law P.C.