Full Breakdown
Asian News International (ANI) vs OpenAI: Delhi High Court Declines Interim Injunction on Copyright Claim
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event – Court Refuses Stay on July Ruling
On a Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora declined to grant ANI an interim stay on the July 24 order that held the use of ANI’s copyrighted material to train large-language models does not constitute infringement. The bench ordered OpenAI to file a response and set the next hearing for December 8.
Background – July Order and Fair-Dealing Argument
ANI filed its suit in 2024, alleging that OpenAI’s ChatGPT scraped and used its news content without licence. A single-judge bench led by Justice Amit Bansal dismissed ANI’s request for an injunction, reasoning that such relief would harm the public interest and that the alleged copying fell within “private” or research-related use. ANI contended that Indian law provides a narrow “fair dealing” exception under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, not the broader U.S.-style fair-use doctrine the judge appeared to apply.
Official Statements & Responses
Intervenor senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing via video, urged that his client also be heard, emphasizing the case’s “global implications.” The division bench indicated it would not issue an ex-parte order without hearing OpenAI.
Verbatim Quotes
- “From 11 September 2024 till the passing of the impugned order, a certain status was obtained, which was that they were not downloading or scraping content from my website. That statement was made. They volunteered that they will not take news content from my website,” — Sidhant Kumar, through its lawyer
- “The single judge heard us. We need to be heard. This has global implications,” — Kapil Sibal
What’s Next – December 8 Hearing
The court has scheduled a further hearing for December 8, at which OpenAI must submit its written response to ANI’s appeal. The outcome will determine whether the agency can obtain a permanent injunction against the use of its news content in AI training.