An interesting new lawsuit filed in the District of Colorado. Mac Pierce and other users of Photobucket.
The Complaint alleges: “Photobucket is threatening to sell Plaintiffs’ images to third parties who can use them to create biometric facial recognition databases that intrude on Plaintiffs’ privacy by identifying them wherever they go. Additionally, Photobucket hopes to monetize Plaintiffs’ photos through the application of artificial intelligence which, among other violations, can create new images bearing a Plaintiff’s likeness, sometimes called “deep fakes” when used to defraud, and to build algorithms that reproduce Plaintiffs’ photographs and derivative materials in violation of Plaintiffs’ copyrights and publicity rights.”
The Complaint asserts mostly state law claims for invasion of privacy, deceptive practices, and unjust enrichment.
It does not (yet) allege a copyright infringement claim (probably due to the registration requirement), but it does allege separate claims for removal of copyright management information (CMI) under DMCA Section 1203(b)(1) and for distribution of copies with CMI removed under 1203(b)(3).
With amended complaints filed in two of David Millette’s lawsuits (against Google and NVIDIA), the total number of copyright lawsuits against AI in the United States is now 38.