NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier have initiated a lawsuit against Google regarding 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 authorization during the development and training process for Gemini. As of July 15, the court had yet to rule on the claims or certify the class.
The lawsuit asserts that Google acquired material via Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar. Publishers and authors had provided works for specific functions such as search, sales, and research. The plaintiffs argue that these arrangements did not permit broader commercial AI training. They also claim Google downloaded extensive web-scraped datasets containing copyrighted works, including some sourced from known pirate sites and paywalled services.
The 57-page complaint outlines four federal law claims. Three relate to alleged reproduction via Google services, web scraping, and Gemini’s development or training. The fourth references the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, alleging Google removed or altered copyright management information from training data. The document also mentions internal discussions about using publisher-provided books, with one estimate placing potential fines between $10 billion and $100 billion. These allegations have not yet been examined by the court.
Class Action Includes Registered Works
The proposed class encompasses owners of registered U.S. copyrights in qualifying books and journal articles. Eligible books must have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), while eligible articles must possess a Digital Object Identifier or International Standard Serial Number. This definition covers works allegedly copied from Google services or obtained through web scraping, as well as those purportedly reproduced during Gemini’s training or development.
Registration timing also restricts class membership. One criterion requires registration within five years of publication and prior to Google’s alleged reproduction or distribution. Another mandates registration within three months of publication. The lawsuit excludes government entities, Google affiliates, certain court participants, and individuals who properly opt out. The court must approve the class designation before the case proceeds for the larger group.
Legal Claims Include Damages and Accountings
The plaintiffs seek statutory damages or actual damages related to any proven infringement. They also request Google’s profits attributable to any confirmed copyright violations. Their relief demands include an injunction, legal costs, and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify an overall damages amount but asks Google to disclose Gemini training data, methods of data collection, and model capabilities through a court-ordered accounting.
This accounting would identify the copyrighted works used in training Gemini, and detail how Google collected, copied, processed, and encoded these materials. The plaintiffs also seek court-supervised destruction of unauthorized copies under Google’s control. Earlier, Hachette and Cengage aimed to join separate AI litigation against Google in California. This New York case expands the scope to include Elsevier, Turow, and S.C.R.I.B.E., focusing on claims related to Google services, web scraping, and Gemini’s training process.