Technology
Adult film producer connects torrent copyright suit to Meta Reality Labs executive
Strike 3 Holdings asks a federal court to link a residential copyright lawsuit with its $446 million AI training case against Meta.
The short version
- Strike 3 Holdings claims an anonymous residential IP subscriber sued for downloading thousands of files via BitTorrent is a Meta Reality Labs executive.
- The adult film producer filed a motion asking a federal judge to relate the individual lawsuit to its broader $446 million AI copyright infringement suit against Meta.
- Meta responded that an IP address does not prove who conducted the downloads and stated that nothing ties the activity to the company.
- U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee has not yet decided whether the two legal actions will be consolidated or treated as related.
Key facts
- Strike 3 Holdings identified the subscriber of an AT&T IP address sued in March as a long-time Meta Reality Labs executive following an ISP subpoena.[Hacker News]
- Strike 3 and Counterlife Media previously sued Meta for up to $446 million, alleging the tech firm downloaded 2,973 adult films to train artificial intelligence models.[Hacker News]
- Strike 3 claims nearly 20,000 files were downloaded from the residential connection, including virtual reality adult content, software, books, and media packs.[Hacker News]
- The plaintiff filed a motion before U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee to formally relate the residential case to the broader corporate litigation.[Hacker News]
- Meta argued that an IP address does not establish the identity of an infringer and contended that Strike 3 has not shown the downloads were conducted on behalf of the company.[Hacker News]
What remains uncertain
- It remains unverified whether the named internet subscriber directly conducted the downloads or if the activity was connected to Meta's corporate operations.[Hacker News]
- The executive's specific name and title remain under seal in court filings.[Hacker News]
- The court has not yet ruled on whether to grant Strike 3's motion to relate the individual lawsuit to the Meta litigation.[Hacker News]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.