OpenAI and Microsoft Hit with Another Lawsuit over Copyright Infringement– This Time by 8 US Newspapers

• Newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital have sued Open AI and Microsoft for using their original articles without consent or compensation.
• OpenAI has assured it will negotiate with the news publications to reach a common solution. Microsoft is yet to make a comment.
• This isn't the first time the AI company has been called out for copyright infringement - the New York Times sued it in December 2023.

Eight popular newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft on Tuesday (April 30) in a New York federal court for using their reporters' work to train its AI models without their consent.

The newspapers include Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, The New York Daily News, Orange County Register, Mercury News, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Orlando Sentinel, and South Florida Sun Sentinel. It's important to note that all of these newspapers are owned by Alden Global Capital.

Addressing the lawsuit, Frank Pine, executive editor for the MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing said that they have spent billions on collecting and reporting news. And given that it took a lot of time and resources to get where they are today, it's completely unacceptable for tech companies like OpenAI to mooch off their hard work.

Even worse, OpenAI neither acquired prior consent of the reporters nor did it offer any monetary compensation for using their work.

The complaint has raised another concern. AI platforms like these are not only copying news pieces but are also providing wrong information.

For example, an AI-generated news piece cited a fictitious Denver Post piece that apparently recommended smoking as a treatment for asthma. Similarly, another article claimed that the Chicago Tribune recommended a certain infant lounger. However, that product had been recalled for safety issues.

Incidents like these damage the reputation that these publications have worked so hard to build. Plus, they also misguide the readers who may end up believing that the wrongly cited news source is not a reliable source of information.

Responding to this, a spokesperson from OpenAI said, (we take) great care in our products and design process to support news organizations."

What's more, the representative also said that they will be in talks with the news companies until they can figure out a solution.

OpenAI and Microsoft's Past Troubles with Copyright InfringementThis isn't the first time that OpenAI and Microsoft have been under attack for using reputed news websites and papers to train their AI bots without the consent of the creator.

The New York Times was one of the first to file a lawsuit against these two companies for unauthorizedly using millions of its original articles. Although no number was revealed, the damages sought were estimated to be in billions along with compensation for the investment the NY Times made in procuring news.

OpenAI tried to get the case dismissed by saying that its use of NY Times journalism falls under Fair Use,' which means using a piece of original work for transformative' purposes without any legal consequences.

However, the New York Times argues that OpenAI's use of its work doesn't fall under the transformative purpose, and that it's simply for its own profit.

Although the above-mentioned lawsuit is still going on, the two parties have expressed interest in forming a high-value partnership around real-time display with attribution in ChatGPT.

A previous negotiation attempt between the two parties (before the lawsuit was filed) failed. So, it'll be interesting to see how this deal pans out.

Other news outlets like The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet have also sued OpenAI and asked for $2,500 in damages for each stolen story.

Regardless of the outcome of these lawsuits, one thing is clear: both AI and the news industry are set to go through some major transformations.

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