A coalition of publishers operating in the US and owning approximately 400 local newspapers has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
Modern.az reports that the publishers claim that artificial intelligence companies used thousands of their articles without permission to train systems like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.
Among the plaintiffs are well-known local publications from various regions of the US, including Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, New York Amsterdam News, Newspapers of New England, Ogden Newspapers, and Straus Newspapers. The publishers believe that the unauthorized use of their content severely impacts the operations of local media, which are already facing financial difficulties, and this could be a "death sentence for local journalism."
The plaintiffs are demanding statutory compensation, payment for actual damages, disgorgement of profits, and coverage of legal expenses from OpenAI and Microsoft. This is not the first copyright lawsuit filed against OpenAI. The company was previously sued by The New York Times, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and other authors and media organizations.
OpenAI, however, has so far defended the use of content available on the open internet for training artificial intelligence models as falling under the principle of "fair use." The court's decision could significantly impact the rules for AI companies' use of copyrighted content and the future of the media industry.
