A group of YouTubers has added Snap to a growing list of tech companies accused of using online videos without permission to train artificial intelligence models.
The creators, who collectively have about 6.2 million subscribers across three YouTube channels, allege that Snap used their video content to train AI systems powering features such as the app’s “Imagine Lens,” which enables users to generate and edit images using text prompts.
The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims Snap relied on large-scale datasets such as HD-VILA-100M, which were intended for academic research and not commercial use. The plaintiffs argue that Snap bypassed YouTube’s technical safeguards, terms of service, and licensing restrictions.
The case is being led by creators behind the h3h3 YouTube channel, as well as MrShortGame Golf and Golfholics. The lawsuit seeks statutory damages and a permanent injunction to prevent further alleged copyright infringement.
The Snap case follows similar lawsuits filed by the same creators against Nvidia, Meta, and ByteDance. It adds to a growing wave of legal challenges brought by content creators, authors, publishers, and artists against AI developers over the use of copyrighted material.
