YouTube creators sue Snap, alleging it scraped their videos with a downloader tool to train its generative AI
23 ene 2026 · Recopilado automáticamente de fuentes públicas. No revisado por una persona.
Este contenido solo está disponible en su idioma original (inglés).
What happened
On 23 January 2026, Ted Entertainment, Inc. and other YouTube creators filed a putative class action against Snap Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case No. 2:26-cv-00754, Judge Andre Birotte Jr.). The complaint alleges that Snap circumvented YouTube's technological protection measures — a claim under DMCA Section 1201(a) — by using a video-downloader tool and IP-rotating virtual machines to scrape millions of creators' videos without authorization, in order to train its generative AI features, including the "Imagine Lens." The named plaintiffs include Ted Entertainment (operator of the h3h3 Productions / H3 Podcast Highlights channels), creator Matt Fisher and Golfholics, Inc., with roughly 6.2 million combined subscribers; the complaint identifies their videos in the HD-VILA-100M and Panda-70M datasets, which were distributed for research purposes. Snap later moved to dismiss (filed 11 May 2026).
Why it may matter to you
This is the first creator class action against Snap over AI training data, and it turns on anti-circumvention — how the videos were allegedly obtained — rather than on fair use of the videos themselves.
What is not yet known
How the court rules on Snap's motion to dismiss; whether a class is certified.
Fuentes
- Class action complaint, Document 1 in Ted Entertainment, Inc. v. Snap Inc., No. 2:26-cv-00754 (C.D. Cal., filed 01/23/26) — Copyright Litigation Blog (complaint PDF) (primary)