A federal judge denied Meta's motion to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from adult-film producers Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, letting their direct, vicarious, and contributory infringement claims proceed toward trial. Judge Eumi K. Lee ruled that the plaintiffs don't need to prove their films were used to train Meta's AI, because the alleged downloading via BitTorrent is itself the infringement, and she rejected Meta's argument that employees or visitors had grabbed the content for personal use. The judge found the download patterns, including 47 corporate IP addresses pulling thousands of files between 2018 and 2025, pointed to algorithmic collection rather than coincidence. Meta can still mount its defenses in discovery, with mediation due by August and a jury trial set for February 2028.
