Encyclopedia Britannica Sues OpenAI Over Copyright Infringement

Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary, Merriam-Webster, have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit, lodged on March 13, 2026, accuses OpenAI of improperly using nearly 100,000 articles and reference materials to train its AI models, including the widely used ChatGPT. Britannica claims that OpenAI's practices have resulted in the generation of responses that closely mirror or reproduce its content, thereby diverting traffic away from its own platforms.

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The complaint alleges that OpenAI's AI systems have "memorized" significant portions of Britannica's content, producing near-verbatim copies when responding to user queries. This practice, Britannica argues, constitutes a form of "massive copyright infringement" and undermines its business model by providing users with AI-generated summaries that substitute for the original content. Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that OpenAI has engaged in trademark infringement by implying authorization to reproduce Britannica's material and by attributing incorrect information to the publisher in instances of AI "hallucinations."

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This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of legal challenges faced by AI companies regarding their training data practices. Britannica's legal action follows similar lawsuits filed by other publishers and media organizations, including The New York Times and various authors, who argue that their copyrighted materials have been used without permission to train AI systems. Britannica previously filed a related lawsuit against the AI startup Perplexity AI, which is still ongoing.

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In response to the allegations, OpenAI has maintained that its models are trained on publicly available data and operate within the bounds of fair use. A spokesperson stated, "Our models empower innovation and are trained on publicly available data and grounded in fair use." OpenAI's position is that the transformative nature of AI outputs qualifies their use of copyrighted material as fair use.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Use of Content to Train AI Models

Critics of OpenAI's practices argue that the company has engaged in systematic copyright violations by scraping and utilizing proprietary content without consent. Britannica's lawsuit highlights the potential harm to its business, as users may rely on AI-generated responses instead of visiting Britannica's website for accurate information. The ongoing legal disputes raise significant questions about the ethical and legal implications of using copyrighted material in AI training.

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As the case unfolds, it will likely contribute to the ongoing debate over copyright law and AI training practices. The outcome may set important precedents regarding the use of copyrighted content in AI systems and could influence future licensing agreements between AI companies and content creators. Britannica is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to prevent further unauthorized use of its materials.

OpenAI Faces Lawsuit Over ChatGPT Content Use Claims

• “Our models empower innovation, and are trained on publicly available data and grounded in fair use.” — OpenAI spokesperson.

Britannica Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Use of Articles to Train ChatGPT