Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has responded to an amended copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Strike 3 Holdings and Vixen Media Group (VMG), denying allegations of pirating adult films for AI training while confirming a key IP address is linked to a former data engineer.

The legal dispute, which began last summer, centers on VMG's claims that Meta downloaded and distributed its movies through online piracy websites to train artificial intelligence models used for video and image production. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges copyright infringement valued at over $359 million, with potential statutory damages reaching $446 million.

Amended Complaint and Meta's Response

AVN reported in July 2025 that Strike 3 and VMG initially filed a complaint against Meta. Meta's efforts to dismiss the lawsuit were denied by the court, which found VMG had ample legal grounds to proceed. After a year of litigation, counsel for VMG filed an amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 7. The amended complaint, submitted to federal district judge Eumi K. Lee, states, "This is a case about the ongoing, wholesale copyright infringement of plaintiffs’ motion pictures by defendant."

VMG has increased its claims of copyright infringement from an initial 2,396 to 2,973 works. Vixen's attorneys argue in the amended complaint that "Meta infringed 2,973 of plaintiffs’ works," and that "All of these works have been registered with the United States Copyright Office." The amended complaint further explains that "[Meta] infringed [on the] plaintiffs’ works multiple times from multiple locations." VMG stated it detected illegal downloads through the torrenting platform BitTorrent and discovered that hundreds of the internet protocol (IP) addresses conducting these downloads were tied to workstations and systems owned by Meta Platforms.

Meta filed its answer to the amended complaint this week at the California federal court, denying all allegations while raising several affirmative defenses. Meta's lawyers responded in their affirmative defenses via the most recent filing: "Plaintiffs’ claims are barred under the doctrines of copyright misuse and unclean hands to the extent that plaintiffs’ asserted works quote from, copy, or otherwise incorporate works of others without permission." Both Meta and VMG have requested a jury trial to resolve the complaint.

The Data Engineer Connection

One specific IP address was tied to an employee's residential address. As part of its defense, Meta's attorneys confirmed this allegation in a response to the amended complaint filed with Judge Lee's court last week. Meta admitted that "the subscriber’s adult son was a Contingent Worker at Meta from October 2022 to October 2024." The company further confirmed that the same person became "an employee at Meta with the title Data Engineer from April 2025 to May 2026."

The original complaint identified a then-unnamed Facebook employee who allegedly used a residential Comcast IP address to download content, while also sharing files through Meta corporate IPs and what Strike 3 described as "stealth" IP addresses. According to the amended complaint, that single address was linked to the infringement of 97 of Strike 3’s works. Meta's answer offers an explanation that the alleged torrenting was personal activity on a family member’s home internet connection, unrelated to Meta. Strike 3 reportedly identified this person through their LinkedIn profile.

VMG alleges that Meta's proprietary tools, "VXN Scan" and "Cross Reference Tool," detected the illegal downloads. VMG also alleges, "On information and belief, Meta is also using [the] plaintiffs’ content to train its AI models, knowing that such models will eventually create identical content for little to no cost." VMG claims this "will effectively eliminate [the] plaintiffs’ future ability to compete in the marketplace." VMG's attorneys added, "Repeated training on plaintiffs’ works is likely to provide Meta’s AI programs with unique advantages compared to other companies who complied with copyright laws, resisting the temptation to acquire free content."

AI and Workforce Practices

In a separate development, dozens of Meta employees have filed a lawsuit alleging that the company used artificial intelligence tools to identify workers for mass layoffs. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in the northern district of California, claims that these AI tools targeted employees who had requested protected or maternity leave or disability accommodation. The suit points to Meta’s workforce reduction of approximately 8,000 employees earlier this year.

The complaint alleges that Meta utilized a "constellation of internal artificial intelligence systems," including AI performance ratings and keystroke- and activity-monitoring data, to determine who would be laid off. The 71-page complaint states, "Meta did not assemble the termination list through the considered judgment of managers who knew the work." Instead, the 26 workers listed in the lawsuit allege the company used AI systems "to score, rank and select employees for inclusion on the list." The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary court ruling to halt Meta from finalizing the layoffs while they pursue their claims, along with relief that could include reinstatement, back pay, lost equity, benefits, and other damages.

Key Facts

  • Strike 3 Holdings and Vixen Media Group (VMG) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta Platforms.
  • VMG alleges Meta downloaded and distributed its movies via BitTorrent to train AI models, claiming over $359 million in damages.
  • The amended complaint, filed July 7, increased copyright infringement claims from 2,396 to 2,973 works.
  • Meta confirmed a key IP address linked to alleged piracy belongs to a former data engineer who was an employee from April 2025 to May 2026.
  • Meta denies allegations of organized data collection for AI training and proposes a "de minimis" BitTorrent defense.
  • Both Meta and VMG have requested a jury trial.