Social media giant Meta Platforms (META) is facing a new federal lawsuit in Manhattan from five major publishers and author Scott Turow over how it trained its Llama AI models. The lawsuit was filed by Elsevier (RELX), Cengage Group, Hachette Livre, Macmillan Publishers, and McGraw Hill (MH). More specifically, they claim that Meta used millions of copyrighted books and journal articles without permission or payment.
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The publishers allege that Meta relied on pirated or unlicensed copies of their works and removed copyright management information before using them for AI training. They also argue that Llama can create book-like content and summaries that may compete with the original works. As a result, the lawsuit claims that Meta’s training practices hurt both book sales and future licensing markets. This concern has become more important as AI-generated books continue to appear on online marketplaces.
Interestingly, the lawsuit comes after Meta won a separate case last year that was brought by authors, but the publishers believe their case is stronger. Unsurprisingly, Meta plans to fight the claims aggressively, and the dispute could become another major test for the AI industry. The key legal question is whether training AI models on copyrighted content counts as fair use or copyright infringement. Therefore, the outcome matters for both Meta and the overall industry.
What Is the Price Target for Meta?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 30 Buys, seven Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average META price target of $822.60 per share implies 36.8% upside potential.
