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'''''Chmura v. Snap Inc.'''' is a class action lawsuit filed on February 18, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that Snapchat circumvented YouTube's technological protection measures to mass-download video content for AI training, violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions.<ref name="copyright-feb">[https://copyrightalliance.org/copyright-stories-february-2026/ Copyright Alliance, "Copyright Stories — February 2026"]</ref>
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== Case Details ==
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|+ style="font-size:125%;font-weight:bold;padding:0.5em;" | Case Information
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! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Case name
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Chmura v. Snap Inc<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8">[https://copyrightalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Chmura-v.-Snap.pdf Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026]</ref>
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| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | U.S. District Court for the Central District of California<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" />
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| '''Case Name''' || Chmura v. Snap Inc.
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Docket
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | 2:26-cv-01732; consolidated lead case 2:26-cv-00754-AB-MBK<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" /><ref name="case-record-a699008414284737">[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.1003845/gov.uscourts.cacd.1003845.36.0.pdf Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026]</ref>
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| '''Court''' || U.S. District Court, Central District of California
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Filed
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | February 18, 2026<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" />
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| '''Docket Number''' || 2:26-cv-01732
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Judge(s)
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | André Birotte Jr.<ref name="case-record-71de63ba5c6a0420">[https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.1003845/gov.uscourts.cacd.1003845.55.0.pdf Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026]</ref>
|-
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| '''Filed''' || February 18, 2026
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Plaintiffs
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Nicole Chmura; consolidated plaintiffs Ted Entertainment, Inc., Matt Fisher and Golfholics, Inc.<ref name="case-record-a699008414284737" />
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| '''Judge''' || Judge Andre Birotte Jr.
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Defendants
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Snap Inc.<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" />
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| '''Plaintiff''' || Nicole Chmura (proposed class representative)
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Case type
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | Proposed civil class action<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" />
|-
|-
| '''Defendant''' || Snap Inc.
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Claims / issues
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | DMCA § 1201(a): alleged circumvention of YouTube access controls<ref name="case-record-e38e96113f6cabd8" />
|-
|-
| '''Claims''' || DMCA anti-circumvention (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a))
! scope="row" style="width:30%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Status
| style="vertical-align:top;overflow-wrap:anywhere;" | April 13, 2026 consolidated complaint; Snap’s reply supporting dismissal filed June 24, 2026. Later developments have not been verified.<ref name="case-record-a699008414284737" /><ref name="case-record-71de63ba5c6a0420" />
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'''''Chmura v. Snap Inc.'''' is a class action lawsuit filed on February 18, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that Snapchat circumvented YouTube's technological protection measures to mass-download video content for AI training, violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions.<ref name="copyright-feb">[https://copyrightalliance.org/copyright-stories-february-2026/ Copyright Alliance, "Copyright Stories — February 2026"]</ref>
April 13, 2026 consolidated complaint; Snap’s reply supporting dismissal filed June 24, 2026. Later developments have not been verified.<ref name="case-record-a699008414284737" /><ref name="case-record-71de63ba5c6a0420" />


== Allegations ==
== Allegations ==
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== References ==
== References ==
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<references />
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[[Category:Copyright Litigation]]
[[Category:Copyright Litigation]]
[[Category:DMCA]]
[[Category:DMCA]]

Latest revision as of 16:24, 7 September 2026

Case Information
Case name Chmura v. Snap Inc[1]
Court U.S. District Court for the Central District of California[1]
Docket 2:26-cv-01732; consolidated lead case 2:26-cv-00754-AB-MBK[1][2]
Filed February 18, 2026[1]
Judge(s) André Birotte Jr.[3]
Plaintiffs Nicole Chmura; consolidated plaintiffs Ted Entertainment, Inc., Matt Fisher and Golfholics, Inc.[2]
Defendants Snap Inc.[1]
Case type Proposed civil class action[1]
Claims / issues DMCA § 1201(a): alleged circumvention of YouTube access controls[1]
Status April 13, 2026 consolidated complaint; Snap’s reply supporting dismissal filed June 24, 2026. Later developments have not been verified.[2][3]

Chmura v. Snap Inc.' is a class action lawsuit filed on February 18, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that Snapchat circumvented YouTube's technological protection measures to mass-download video content for AI training, violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions.[4]


April 13, 2026 consolidated complaint; Snap’s reply supporting dismissal filed June 24, 2026. Later developments have not been verified.[2][3]

Allegations

Plaintiff Nicole Chmura alleges that Snap Inc. circumvented YouTube's technological access controls to scrape, bulk-download, and extract YouTube-hosted audiovisual works at the file level for training Snapchat's AI systems.[4]

Specific claims include:

  • Snap used circumvention tools and services to defeat YouTube's streaming-only restrictions at scale
  • The company instructed employees to evade detection and scrape repeatedly for video clips
  • Snapchat's AI systems were trained on unlawfully accessed copyrighted content without creator permission or licenses
  • The circumvention was conducted deliberately and systematically to obtain commercial AI training data[4]

Relief Sought

  • Injunctive relief to cease circumvention-based access to YouTube-hosted works
  • Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 1203
  • Declaratory relief
  • Jury trial[4]

Significance

This case is part of a wave of DMCA anti-circumvention lawsuits filed against AI companies in early 2026, alongside similar actions against Runway AI, Meta, Nvidia, and others. It represents an expansion of AI copyright litigation beyond text-based training data into video content scraping.[4]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Court filing / case record, reviewed September 7, 2026
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