Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Suggests

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Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Suggests

https://torrentfreak.com/uploading-pirated-books-via-bittorrent-qualifies-as-fair-use-meta-suggests/

Meta Says Seeding Pirated Books is Fair Use—And It’s Complicated

In a twist that even BitTorrent power users might find ironic, Meta is now arguing that uploading pirated books via BitTorrent—yes, the part where your computer shares files with others—is protected under fair use. Why? Because the protocol requires seeding, and without it, downloading wouldn’t work.

The context: Meta used pirated books from shadow libraries like Anna’s Archive to train its Llama AI models. Last summer, a judge ruled that training on copyrighted material was fair use—but the court left open whether merely downloading and sharing those files (i.e., torrenting them) also qualified. That’s where Meta’s new legal gambit comes in.

Meta claims the seeding wasn’t voluntary—it was a technical inevitability. As their lawyers put it, “part and parcel” of the download process. And since the main goal (training AI) was deemed fair use, so too must be the means to obtain the data.

But the authors aren’t buying it. They argue Meta waited too long to raise this defense—despite being aware of the seeding claims since late 2024—and that it’s trying to bypass discovery deadlines.

Meanwhile, Meta leans on admissions from the authors themselves: none can point to an AI-generated output that copies their books. As Sarah Silverman put it: “It doesn’t matter at all.”

This case isn’t just about books or torrents—it’s about how AI learns, and who gets to decide the rules. Judges will be watching closely.

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For the legally curious: Meta’s filings are [here](link), the authors’ objection is [here](link), and Meta’s reply is [here](link).

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