View source for Reddit Inc v Anthropic PBC

'''Reddit, Inc. v. Anthropic PBC''' is a lawsuit in which Reddit alleges that Anthropic unlawfully scraped its platform content and user data to train Claude and other AI models, violating Reddit's user agreements and California law. On '''March 31, 2026''', the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Reddit's motion to remand the case to California state court, rejecting Anthropic's argument that federal copyright law preempted Reddit's state-law claims.<ref name="loeb">[https://www.loeb.com/en/insights/publications/2026/04/reddit-inc-v-anthropic-pbc Loeb & Loeb, Reddit, Inc. v. Anthropic PBC — Court Grants Remand to State Court]</ref><ref name="law360">[https://www.law360.com/articles/2459570/reddit-s-ai-scraping-suit-sent-back-to-state-court Law360, Reddit's AI Scraping Suit Sent Back to State Court]</ref>

== Case Information ==

{|
|-
| '''Case Name''' || Reddit, Inc. v. Anthropic PBC
|-
| '''Court''' || Originally filed in California state court; removed to U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; remanded to state court March 31, 2026
|-
| '''Plaintiff''' || Reddit, Inc.
|-
| '''Defendant''' || Anthropic PBC
|-
| '''Claims''' || Breach of contract, unjust enrichment, trespass to chattels, tortious interference with contract, violation of California Business and Professions Code
|-
| '''Key Ruling''' || Remand to state court (March 31, 2026) — federal copyright law does not preempt Reddit's state-law claims
|}

== Background ==

Reddit filed suit against Anthropic alleging that since approximately 2022, Anthropic engaged in unauthorized scraping of Reddit's platform to obtain user-generated content for training its Claude AI models. Reddit contends that Anthropic's access violated Reddit's user agreement restrictions on data access methods and bypassed technical safeguards, constituting breach of contract, trespass to chattels, and violations of California's unfair competition law.<ref name="loeb"/><ref name="iipla">[https://iipla.org/anthropic-reddit-spar-over-keeping-ai-case-in-federal-court/ IIPLA, Anthropic, Reddit Spar Over Keeping AI Case in Federal Court]</ref>

== Remand Ruling (March 31, 2026) ==

Anthropic removed the case to federal court, arguing that Reddit's claims were preempted by the federal Copyright Act under 17 U.S.C. § 301. On March 31, 2026, the federal court granted Reddit's motion to remand, holding that the Copyright Act does not preempt Reddit's state-law claims. The court found that each of Reddit's claims contains "extra elements" qualitatively different from copyright's exclusive rights, including:

* Breach of user agreement restrictions on access methods
* Bypassing technical safeguards and infrastructure protection measures
* Privacy protections and consumer fairness beyond mere reproduction

The court applied the two-part preemption test under § 301: (1) subject matter within copyright (satisfied, as Reddit's content is original expression), and (2) equivalent rights (not satisfied due to the extra elements). The case was remanded to California state court.<ref name="loeb"/><ref name="law360"/>

== Significance ==

The remand ruling is significant because it means AI training data cases involving state-law claims (breach of contract, trespass to chattels, unfair competition) may proceed in state court, even where the underlying content is copyrightable. This avoids federal court's exclusive jurisdiction and allows plaintiffs to pursue broader remedies under state law. The ruling also signals that AI companies cannot automatically federalize scraping disputes by raising copyright preemption defenses.

Anthropic may appeal the remand order. In state court, Anthropic may still raise fair use and other defenses.<ref name="loeb"/>

== See Also ==

* [[News Reddit-v-Anthropic-Remand-2026|April 26, 2026 — Reddit v. Anthropic: Federal Court Remands AI Scraping Case to State Court]]
* [[Kadrey v Meta Platforms Inc|Kadrey v. Meta Platforms]]
* [[Chmura v Snap Inc|Chmura v. Snap]]
* [[BMG Rights Management v Anthropic PBC|BMG v. Anthropic]]

== References ==

<references />

[[Category:Copyright Litigation]]
[[Category:Cases Against Anthropic]]
[[Category:Data Privacy]]
[[Category:DMCA]]