Reddit v. Anthropic and the Expanding Legal Theories in AI Litigation
Reddit is suing Anthropic for allegedly scraping user-generated content from its platform to train AI models, using five non-copyright legal theories
According to a recent analysis, there are currently at least twelve pending lawsuits by content owners alleging copyright infringement by AI developers. Therefore, it has been known for some time that AI will present new questions for copyright law. However, a recent lawsuit by Reddit against Anthropic (the company behind the large language model Claude) illustrates that the legal challenges presented by AI extend well beyond copyright issues.
This case notably does not assert copyright infringement. Instead, Reddit’s complaint leverages a set of common law and statutory theories to challenge Anthropic’s alleged unauthorized scraping and use of its user-generated content for training AI models.
There are so many interesting aspects about this case, including the way in which Reddit uses Claude’s own responses to support its contention that Anthropic has not excluded deleted posts from its training data. However, in this post, I want to provide a broader overview of the legal theories behind Reddit’s five causes of action:
1. Breach of User Agreement
Reddit alleges that Anthropic, by accessing and using the Reddit platform, implicitly or explicitly agreed to abide by the terms of Reddit’s User Agreement. This agreement, according to the complaint, prohibits scraping content from the platform and prevents users from commercially exploiting content obtained through Reddit’s services. Reddit alleges that Anthropic breached these specific prohibitions by scraping content to train its AI models for commercial purposes.
2. Unjust Enrichment
Reddit alleges that, by “scrap[ing] and us[ing] Reddit content to train and power a model that has enriched Anthropic to the tune of billions of dollars,” Anthropic “was unjustly enriched at the expense of Reddit.”
3. Trespass to Chattels
Reddit’s complaint includes a claim of trespass to chattels, which traditionally applies to interference with tangible personal property. In this digital context, Reddit alleges that its platform, including its servers and technological infrastructure, constitutes its personal property. The complaint contends that, by allegedly engaging in unauthorized scraping, Anthropic intentionally interfered with Reddit’s property, thereby diminishing its server capacity and functionality for legitimate users.
4. Tortious Interference with Contract
The fourth legal theory focuses on Anthropic’s alleged disruption of Reddit’s existing contractual relationships with its user base. Reddit maintains that it has established contractual commitments to users regarding privacy protections and content control mechanisms. Reddit alleges that Anthropic deliberately interfered with Reddit’s ability to honor its commitments to its users by scraping data without establishing proper licensing arrangements that would include sufficient safeguards.
5. Unfair Competition under California Law
Reddit’s final claim leverages California Business & Professions Code Section 17200, a comprehensive statute designed to combat unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices. Specifically, Reddit alleges that Anthropic’s conduct constitutes unfair competition in the marketplace. Reddit argues that these actions resulted in the misappropriation of valuable content, posed threats to Reddit’s platform value, and created competitive disadvantages in the market.