Three major publishers and one author have filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, alleging copyright infringement in the training of its Gemini AI. Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier, along with author Scott Turow, claim Google used millions of copyrighted works without permission or compensation.

The lawsuit asserts that Google "reproduced millions of copyrighted works without permission, without providing any compensation to authors or publishers, and with full knowledge that its conduct violated copyright law." It also alleges that Google removed copyright management information (CMI) from the works to hide its training sources.

Furthermore, the complaint contends that Gemini facilitates the creation of derivative works without credit or compensation, and that Google has failed to implement adequate safeguards despite knowing this. This legal action is part of a broader trend of authors and publishers seeking compensation from AI companies for the use of their content in AI training, though such cases have faced challenges.