A coalition of 8 major newspapers has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging serious copyright violations. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses AI developers of using copyrighted articles to train their artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Copilot, without seeking permission or compensating the publishers. The legal battle here represents a crucial step in the ongoing struggle between traditional media companies and Big Tech over the unpaid use of content for commercial purposes.
Massive Claims for Copyright Infringement
The plaintiffs, including prominent news outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and the Denver Post, argue that OpenAI and Microsoft have captured billions of dollars in business from publishing companies by exploiting other people’s copyrighted works without authorization. As the complaint states, AI developers have utilized millions of texts from publishers’ websites in training datasets to enrich their language models, bypassing journalist integrity and rightful financial compensation for the content.
⚠️ US NEWSPAPERS SUE OPENAI FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OVER AI TRAINING
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A group of newspapers, including the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune, sued Microsoft and OpenAI in New York federal court on Tuesday, accusing them of misusing… pic.twitter.com/VdjzbmO7zO
— PiQ (@PiQSuite) April 30, 2024
Impact on the News Industry and Reputation
Frank Pine, editor-in-chief of MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, denounced the practice of scraping news content, stating that it undermines the news industry’s economic model beyond explanation. According to Pine, while OpenAI and Microsoft invest heavily in technology, infrastructure, and personnel, they have ignored rewards for content provided by publishers, which forms the basis of their products. However, the plaintiffs further argue that AI applications have also violated copyright laws by imposing inaccurate and misleading text wrongly attributed to publishers, not only damaging their reputation but also exacerbating misinformation issues.
Escalating Legal Battle between OpenAI and Microsoft
This lawsuit is part of numerous legal actions taken against AI technologies. Consequently, Microsoft’s previous actions by the Authors Guild and the New York Times have been exercised against tech companies for infringing authors’ copyrights and holding them legally accountable for their unauthorized use of copyrighted materials. Subpoenas and initial investigations are already underway, with a summary judgment expected in the first half of 2025. Thus, the judicial decision in this case will significantly impact the future of AI technology development and creative rights protection in the digital world.
The lawsuit filed by eight newspapers against OpenAI and Microsoft reflects a major milestone in the struggle between traditional mass media and Big Tech over copyright infringement and fair compensation for content creators. The actual outcome of this legal proceeding must be closely monitored by stakeholders from various sectors with potential influence on AI innovation, intellectual property rights, and the relationship between tech companies and content developers.
