New York Times Files Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft

The New York Times, together with a coalition of other news outlets, has renewed its 2023 lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that the AI developers used millions of the publishers’ articles to train large-language-model systems without permission, thereby infringing the newspapers’ copyrights.

New York Times

The filing narrows the case to two pivotal issues. First, whether the AI-generated outputs constitute a “transformative” use of the original news stories, a requirement for a fair-use defense. Second, whether the AI products function as a substitute for the newspapers’ articles, potentially eroding the value of the original reporting.

New York Times

In its court filing, The Times argued that its articles were not transformed into new works and therefore do not qualify for fair-use protection. The newspaper also contended that OpenAI’s and Microsoft’s AI tools act as direct substitutes for its reporting, harming the outlet’s market. The case is headed toward a summary-judgment deadline, after which Judge Sidney H. Stein is expected to issue a ruling in the coming weeks.

New York Times

The outcome could shape how news organizations protect their content in an era where AI systems increasingly rely on large text corpora. A ruling against the tech firms might compel AI developers to secure licenses for copyrighted material, altering the economics of AI training. Conversely, a decision favoring the defendants could broaden the scope of permissible data use for AI, potentially accelerating the deployment of AI-generated news summaries that compete with traditional outlets.

New York Times

• “The future not just of journalism but of responsible A.I., too, depends on preserving incentives for humans to produce the creative works on which a healthy society depends,” — The Times

New York Times