Legal Battle: News Outlets Sue OpenAI and Microsoft for Copyright Issues

Microsoft and OpenAI are facing increasing legal challenges as three additional news organizations, including The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet, have filed lawsuits alleging copyright infringement. The lawsuits claim that ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI, has reproduced news content without proper attribution, omitting crucial details such as the author’s name.

OpenAI Discusses Copyrighted Material in ChatGPT

Represented by the same law firm, the websites asserted that if ChatGPT had been trained on copyrighted material, it should have been programmed to acknowledge this when generating responses. Additionally, Raw Story and AlterNet claimed that OpenAI and Microsoft were aware that the chatbot’s popularity and revenue could be negatively affected if users perceived its responses as infringing on third-party copyrights.

In the lawsuit, the news organizations highlight that OpenAI provides an opt-out system for website owners, indicating that the company should be cognizant of potential copyright infringement issues. Additionally, Microsoft and OpenAI have publicly stated their commitment to defending customers against legal claims related to copyright infringement arising from the use of their products, and have offered to cover any associated costs.

U.S. Court Dismisses Majority of Claims in OpenAI Copyright Lawsuit

In late 2023, The New York Times initiated legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement and seeking compensation for billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages. OpenAI responded by filing a motion to dismiss the claim, contending that The New York Times had exploited a ChatGPT bug that caused the model to reproduce articles verbatim.

OpenAI and Microsoft are currently facing legal challenges from various sources, including multiple non-fiction authors and comedian Sarah Silverman. These individuals have accused the companies of engaging in what they describe as “massive and deliberate theft of copyrighted works.” As a result, they have initiated lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft to address their concerns through legal channels.