Progressive US outlets sue, alleging plagiarism in ChatGPT’s development
OpenAI and Microsoft face new lawsuits from news publishers, alleging copyright violations and illegal use of journalists’ work. Three US progressive outlets – the Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet – filed suits in Manhattan federal court, seeking compensation.
The outlets assert that the companies effectively plagiarized copyrighted articles to develop and run ChatGPT, OpenAI’s flagship generative AI tool. They claim that ChatGPT was trained without regard for copyright, lacks proper attribution, and doesn’t inform users when responses are based on journalists’ protected work.
Raw Story believes that news organizations must confront OpenAI for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and benefiting from the efforts of journalists whose livelihoods are at risk,” stated Raw Story and AlterNet CEO John Byrne in a joint statement. “It is crucial for democracy that a variety of news sites remain vibrant. If OpenAI’s violations are not addressed, they will further devastate the news industry and the essential journalists who drive positive change.”
The Intercept’s lawsuit names OpenAI and its primary investor, Microsoft, as defendants. In contrast, the joint lawsuit filed by Raw Story and AlterNet only lists OpenAI as a defendant. However, the complaints are nearly identical, and the law firm Loevy & Loevy is representing all three outlets in the lawsuits.
Raw Story and AlterNet’s decision not to include Microsoft in their lawsuit is due to a partnership with MSN that supports their investigative reporting, according to Byrne. Both OpenAI and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.
The complaints state, “Defendants had a choice: they could train ChatGPT using works of journalism with the copyright management information protected by the DMCA intact, or they could strip it away. Defendants chose the latter.”
The lawsuits filed on Wednesday are part of a series of legal actions against OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement. This includes a suit from the New York Times in December, which requested that the company eliminate any chatbots or training data that utilized the outlet’s protected material. On Monday, OpenAI’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss certain parts of that lawsuit, contending that its services did not significantly compete with the newspaper.
The surge in lawsuits indicates a widespread concern within the media industry that generative AI will rival traditional publishers as a primary source of information for online users. This trend could further diminish advertising revenues and compromise the quality of online news. Generative AI has already inundated the internet with unreliable information and low-quality websites that mimic legitimate news outlets. Publications such as Sports Illustrated have even employed fake, AI-generated authors instead of human journalists.
While some news outlets and authors are taking legal action against OpenAI, others are choosing to collaborate with the company. International publisher Axel Springer, which owns Germany-based publications Welt and Bild, as well as Politico and Business Insider, has entered a multiyear agreement with OpenAI. This deal allows OpenAI access to Axel Springer’s work in exchange for an undisclosed amount of financial compensation.
The three lawsuits filed on Wednesday are seeking damages and profits from OpenAI. In contrast, the New York Times’ lawsuit asserts that the defendants should be held accountable for “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages.”