The newspapers allege that their journalism was used to develop AI systems without authorization, adding to a growing copyright dispute between publishers and tech companies.
The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, escalating a wider dispute over how copyrighted journalism is used to develop generative artificial intelligence systems.
The case, filed in a US federal court, alleges that the companies used news content produced by the two publications to train AI systems without obtaining permission. The newspapers argue that the growing use of generative AI could undermine the economics of journalism by allowing tech products to reproduce or initiate work created by news organizations.
Copyright at the centre of the dispute.
The lawsuit highlights a fundamental question facing the AI industry: whether copyrighted material can be used to train artificial intelligence models without a licence or payment to its creators.
News organizations argue that journalism involves substantial costs, from reporting and investigation to editing and publishing. They contend that AI systems trained on such material could compete with the original publishers by providing users with information without necessarily requiring them to visit the source websites. The issue has become increasingly significant as AI chatbots are used to search, summarise and generate information from large volumes of online content.
Growing legal pressure on OpenAI and Microsoft.
The Seattle Times and Newsday are not the first publishers to take legal action against the technology companies. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, alleging copyright infringement involving its journalism. Several other publishers and content creators have since pursued similar claims.
The latest case is particularly notable because Microsoft and OpenAI have previously supported some journalism-related projects and fellowships involving The Seattle Times, according to TechCrunch.
Microsoft has expressed surprise at the lawsuit while indicating that it remains open to discussions aimed at resolving disputes of this nature. The outcome could have implications beyond the two newspapers. As publishers and AI companies continue to negotiate the boundaries of content use, courts may play an increasingly important role in determining how copyrighted journalism can be incorporated into the rapidly developing AI ecosystem.
