On July 23, 2025, the U.S. company Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, known for producing and distributing adult films under the Blacked, Tushy, Vixen, and Deeper labels, filed a federal lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division). The action, also brought in the name of its affiliated company Counterlife Media, LLC, marks a significant first in the growing wave of copyright infringement claims targeting artificial intelligence systems.
The plaintiffs allege that Meta, beginning as early as 2018, downloaded and redistributed at least 2,396 of their copyrighted films via the BitTorrent protocol, without any authorization, frequently on the same day of their initial release, and in multiple languages and resolutions. According to the complaint, these files were subsequently used as part of training datasets for Meta’s generative AI systems, including video generation models such as Meta AI Video and MovieGen.
The legal basis for the claim lies in a direct violation of the Copyright Act, specifically Section 501 of Title 17 of the United States Code, which protects the exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution held by copyright owners. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages and injunctive relief to prevent any further unauthorized use of their works. A trial by jury has been expressly requested.
Although lawsuits concerning the unauthorized use of copyrighted content in AI training datasets are becoming increasingly frequent in the United States, this case stands out in several respects. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first to center on adult entertainment content. Paradoxically, producers of a genre long marginalized in judicial forums may now play a decisive role in shaping the emerging case law on the training of AI systems using protected works.
The case is all the more sensitive for Meta, given that its platforms are widely used by a predominantly underage audience. Any broad media coverage of litigation involving explicit adult content would be difficult to reconcile with the company’s public image. This dynamic may well encourage Meta to pursue a swift and discreet settlement. For copyright holders, the situation presents a strategic leverage point in a struggle thus far dominated by powerful technology companies.
This case deserves close attention—not only for its implications in copyright law, but also for its potential impact on the legal framework governing generative artificial intelligence. It underscores, once again, the urgent need for robust legal oversight of AI training practices, lest the creative economy be drained of its value.
