NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier have initiated a lawsuit against Google concerning 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 of Gemini. As of July 15, the court had yet to rule on the allegations or certify the class.
According to the complaint, Google obtained material through Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar. Publishers and authors provided works for specific purposes, including search functions, sales, and research access. The plaintiffs contend that these arrangements did not permit broader commercial AI training. They also allege that Google downloaded extensive web-scraped datasets containing copyrighted content. The filing states that some of the material originated from known pirate sources and services behind paywalls.
The 57-page complaint outlines four claims under federal law. Three relate to alleged reproduction via Google services, web scraping, and the development or training of Gemini. The fourth invokes the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The plaintiffs allege that Google altered or removed copyright management information from training materials. The document also references internal discussions about using publisher-provided books. One assessment estimates potential fines between $10 billion and $100 billion. The court has not yet examined these allegations.
Class includes owners of registered works
The proposed class encompasses owners of registered U.S. copyrights in eligible books and journal articles. To qualify, books must have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), and articles must have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). The class also includes works allegedly copied from Google services or downloaded through web scraping, as well as those reproduced during Gemini’s development or training.
Eligibility for class membership also depends on registration timing. One criterion requires registration within five years of publication and before Google’s alleged reproduction or distribution. Another requires registration within three months of publication. The complaint excludes government entities, Google affiliates, certain court participants, and individuals who properly opt out of the class. The court must approve the class designation before the case advances to represent the broader group.
Legal claims include damages and an accounting order
The plaintiffs seek statutory damages or actual damages for proven infringements. They also request Google’s profits attributable to any confirmed copyright violations. Their proposed remedies include an injunction, legal costs, and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify a total damages amount but asks Google to provide an accounting of Gemini training data, data collection methods, and known model capabilities through a court-ordered process.
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 request court-mandated destruction of unauthorized copies under Google’s control. Earlier, Hachette and Cengage sought to join separate AI-related litigation against Google in California. The current New York suit expands the list of plaintiffs 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.