Meta Sends Legal Notice to Heretic Open-Source AI Project Over Llama Derivatives

The Legal Notice

The Heretic Free Software Project received an email from a legal services provider representing Meta Platforms, Inc., demanding removal of derivatives of Meta's Llama AI language models. Heretic published its response on r/LocalLLaMA, where it quickly accumulated nearly 2,000 upvotes.

A Sardonic Compliance Statement

Written in mock-legal language, the response invokes Galileo Galilei in 1616 — "recanting" the relevant materials while making the historical parallel clear. It notes with precision that Llama ranks "among the 200 best language models available today, trailing only 168 other models from 23 competitors on the LM Arena leaderboard."

The Irony Named Directly

Heretic points out that Meta itself faces lawsuits and investigations in multiple jurisdictions over "the legally and ethically dubious circumstances under which those models were created" — a direct reference to ongoing litigation over Llama's training data sourcing.

Infrastructure Response

On an ostensibly "completely unrelated" note, the project established an official mirror on Codeberg (hosted in Germany) and announced it is working on technological measures to preserve model access independent of any specific service provider. The project intends to continue its work.

Broader Context

The incident reignites debate about what "open source" actually means when the license prohibits derivatives. Meta markets Llama as open while restricting derivative distribution — a tension the Heretic statement makes impossible to ignore.