Meta Faces $359 Million Lawsuit for Allegedly Downloading 2,000+ Adult Videos for ‘Personal Use’
Meta Platforms is facing a staggering $359 million lawsuit filed by adult entertainment producers Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, who accuse the tech giant of illegally downloading and distributing more than 2,400 adult films without authorization. The lawsuit alleges that the content was accessed and stored by Meta employees and potentially used to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
The complaint, first filed in July 2025 in a California federal court, claims Meta “willfully and intentionally pirated” copyrighted material from the studios’ premium film libraries. Both Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media are known for aggressively defending their content rights and have previously sued individuals for digital piracy.
According to court filings, the plaintiffs allege that Meta’s employees downloaded adult content through peer-to-peer networks and unauthorized websites, bypassing licensing agreements and digital rights protections. The lawsuit further claims that certain files were shared internally under the guise of “personal research,” raising questions about whether the material was later incorporated into AI training datasets.
Meta denies AI training link
Meta has strongly denied the allegations that the adult content was used for AI development. A company spokesperson said, “The videos in question were downloaded by individuals for personal use and were not used in any form of data training for Meta’s AI or content generation tools.”
However, the plaintiffs argue that the “personal use” defense does not absolve the company of liability, as the alleged activities occurred on corporate networks and using Meta’s internal systems. They also suggest the downloads could indicate a secret project involving adult-themed AI models, possibly connected to Meta’s upcoming video generator, Movie Gen.
The lawsuit calls for $359 million in statutory damages, an injunction against any further use of the content, and a forensic audit of Meta’s internal data repositories to confirm whether the pirated material was integrated into AI-related research.
A growing trend of AI copyright battles
The case highlights the increasing legal scrutiny facing tech companies as they expand into AI-driven video and image generation. Several major firms — including OpenAI, Stability AI, and Google — are already embroiled in copyright disputes with artists, filmmakers, and content creators who claim their works were used without permission to train machine-learning models.
If proven true, the allegations could represent one of the most significant copyright violations in the AI era, testing how courts interpret the boundaries between AI innovation and intellectual property protection.
Meta has yet to issue an official legal response to the amended complaint, but analysts expect the case to be closely watched by the tech and entertainment industries alike.
