Publishers sue Google for unauthorized use of copyrighted works to train Gemini
Major book publishers and an author sued Google in New York federal court, alleging the company used millions of copyrighted books without permission to train its Gemini AI model, claiming this infringement harms authors and the publishing industry.
What happened
A lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York on 14 July 2026 by publishers Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier, along with author Scott Turow and his company S.C.R.I.B.E., alleging that Google used copyrighted books without permission to train its Gemini AI model.
The plaintiffs claim that Google repurposed books that had been supplied for limited services such as Google Books, Google Play Books and Google Scholar, where the works were licensed only for specific uses such as searchable snippets or ebook sales, not for training commercial AI products.
The lawsuit alleges that Google made copies of copyrighted books despite internal discussions acknowledging legal risks, with one filing claiming Google flagged internally that it could face '$10Bs-$100Bs in potential fines' for using texts provided by publishers for Google Play Books.
Reported impact
The publishers argue that Gemini's ability to create books and compete with human authors is unprecedented, and that AI-generated content could negatively impact book sales.
The lawsuit provides an example that Gemini could generate 'a 100-page murder mystery set in a quiet seaside town filled with secrets, that substitutes for an original copyrighted murder mystery on which Gemini trained' in 20 minutes for 39 cents, arguing 'No publisher or author can compete with that.'
Index analysis
The complaint describes Google's actions as 'one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history' and names specific copyrighted books allegedly used without permission, including NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season and Lemony Snicket's Who Could That Be at This Hour?
The case adds to a growing legal battle over generative AI and copyright, with similar lawsuits filed by authors and publishers against Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.