Media Outlets Challenge OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Infringement
In a significant legal battle that could have profound implications for the news industry, several major media outlets, including The New York Times and the Daily News, have requested a federal judge to impose sanctions on OpenAI. The dispute revolves around the alleged misuse of copyrighted content by OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, in developing their AI technologies.
The newspapers accuse OpenAI of concealing crucial evidence necessary for a landmark copyright infringement case. The central question is whether AI chatbots are unfairly diverting web traffic by serving as alternative information sources without engaging in the journalistic process of news gathering.
A legal filing in Manhattan accuses OpenAI of “obstruction” for not providing datasets and ChatGPT logs that could reveal how their AI system utilized copyrighted news content. The plaintiffs seek penalties for what they describe as “discovery misconduct,” suggesting that a recent deposition contradicted OpenAI’s previous statements.
Steven Lieberman, representing the New York Daily News, stated that OpenAI has been “making misrepresentations” regarding its ability to search for copyrighted material within its AI training datasets over the past two years.
“This motion asks the court to punish OpenAI for hiding and destroying evidence showing how ChatGPT was trained on stolen journalism,” Lieberman said.
OpenAI defends its stance by citing privacy concerns, asserting that limitations in sharing ChatGPT logs are measures to protect user privacy. Drew Pusateri, an OpenAI spokesperson, remarked, “As the Times’ case weakens and they’ve been forced to drop claims against us, they’re persisting with their efforts to invade the privacy of people who have nothing to do with this case, including by making these blatantly false allegations. We’ll continue defending our users’ privacy and the long-established principles of fair use.”
The New York Times initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023, following the widespread impact of ChatGPT, which altered online information search methods. Concerns for news publications intensified when Google introduced AI-generated summaries in 2024, reducing advertising revenue from link clicks to original sources.
Joining the Times in the lawsuit are other media entities, including MediaNews Group-owned newspapers the Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, digital media publisher Ziff Davis, and the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting.
Tech companies, including OpenAI, have defended their use of digitized books, online articles, and other internet writings for AI training under the “fair use” doctrine of U.S. copyright law. This theory is under scrutiny in numerous lawsuits involving various creative industries, with mixed outcomes.
In a notable settlement, OpenAI competitor Anthropic agreed to pay book authors $1.5 billion for training its chatbot on pirated works, highlighting the financial stakes in these legal battles.
The New York Times’ arguments extend beyond those of book authors, focusing on the unfair competition posed by companies leveraging The Times’ substantial investment in journalism to develop competing products without authorization or compensation.
The Times has already invested over $28 million in legal battles against AI companies, as disclosed in financial filings. This includes a lawsuit against AI company Perplexity. The newspapers are seeking sanctions, including attorney fees, to address the “improperly withheld” evidence.
As legal costs mount, many media organizations have entered licensing agreements with AI companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta, receiving fees to allow these companies to train AI systems on their news feeds or archives. The Associated Press was the first to announce such a deal with OpenAI in 2023.
