The plot thickens over an AI-related copyright legal battle against Meta, as a federal judge gives it the green light to proceed, albeit with some portion dismissed.

The case, Kadrey vs. Meta includes a number of writers, including Sarah Silverman, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Richard Kadrey. They accuse Meta of being naughty and allege that Meta violated their intellectual property rights by using their books to hone its Llama AI models. What adds fuel to the fire is the accusation that Meta went commando and wiped off copyright info from these books to shroud this alleged indiscretion.

On the other side of the ring, Meta stands its ground asserting that its actions fall under fair use. It counterargued that the legal action was a non-starter as the authors lacked legitimate rights to sue. During a court appearance in the prior month, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria appeared to swing against dismissal, despite expressing displeasure over what he viewed as exaggerated rhetoric from the authors’ legal counsel.

In a plot twist, as revealed in Friday's ruling, Judge Chhabria clarified that claiming copyright infringement was evidently tangible injury apt for standing. He added that the authors convincingly alleged that Meta consciously erased CMI [copyright management information] to cover up copyright infringement tracks.

Conversely, concerning claims connected to the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), he dropped them like a hot potato as authors did not "claim that Meta trespassed their digital spaces—only their literary creations."

Interestingly, already, the lawsuit has unveiled some fascinating insights on Meta's copyright viewpoint, with accusations from those suing indicating that Mark Zuckerberg authorized the Llama crew to use copyrighted works for AI training. Additionally, other rea in Meta allegedly debated over deploying risky content for AI exercises.

Currently, the court scene is rife with other AI copyright suits, including one from no less than the New York Times against OpenAI.