Publishers Hachette and Cengage seek to join Google AI copyright lawsuit

CALIFORNIA, Jan 15 — Publishers Hachette Book Group and Cengage Group have asked a federal court to join a proposed class action lawsuit against Google, alleging mass copyright infringement to train its AI systems like Gemini.

In their complaint, they stated Google "engaged in one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history" to build its AI capabilities.

They claim Google copied content from Hachette books and Cengage textbooks without permission.

Maria Pallante, CEO of the Association of American Publishers, supported the move.

"We believe our participation will bolster the case," Pallante said in a statement.

She added that publishers are "uniquely positioned to address many of the legal, factual, and evidentiary questions before the Court."

The intervention could significantly increase the potential damages at stake in the case.

The existing lawsuit involves visual artists who sued Google for allegedly misusing their work to train an AI image generator.

This case is among many high-stakes lawsuits brought by artists, authors, and music labels against tech companies over AI training.

Last year, AI company Anthropic settled a similar lawsuit for USD 1.5 billion with a group of authors.

The publishers cited 10 examples of their textbooks and books that Google allegedly misused, including works by authors Scott Turow and N.K. Jemisin.

U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee will decide whether to approve the publishers' request to join the case.