Recently, a copyright infringement lawsuit between OpenAI and The New York Times was heard in a federal court in the United States. This case has attracted widespread attention as it involves two major institutions and could have profound implications for the entire digital media ecosystem. In court, OpenAI and its main investor, Microsoft, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, while The New York Times and other plaintiffs accused OpenAI and Microsoft of using their content to train large language models (LLMs) without permission, and of leveraging these models to compete with the plaintiffs, affecting their website traffic and revenue.
The lawyer for The New York Times pointed out in court that OpenAI may have directly copied multiple news articles while training its models, sometimes even returning complete paragraphs or articles in response to user queries. They emphasized that the operation of LLMs is different from that of humans, as machines cannot understand and learn information in the same way humans do, and therefore, their use of content should be considered copyright infringement. Additionally, they noted that traditional search engines provide original links, allowing publishers to profit from advertising and subscription revenue, while generative search engines provide direct answers, which harms publishers.
In response, the lawyers for OpenAI and Microsoft argued that their actions fall under the category of "fair use," meaning they use copyrighted material without harming the interests of copyright holders. They contended that LLMs do not store specific copyrighted content during the training process but instead rely on data weights obtained from training. The defense also mentioned that the plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove they suffered damages.
In court, both sides engaged in heated debates regarding relevant copyright law provisions, how LLMs work, and the statute of limitations. The ruling on this case will significantly impact whether AI companies can train on publishers' works without permission.
This trial involves not only OpenAI but also several similar lawsuits currently under review against multiple news publishers. It is still uncertain when a final ruling will be made, but Judge Stan has shown a high level of interest in the case and may spend more time conducting a thorough examination.
Key Points:
📄 The copyright infringement lawsuit between The New York Times and OpenAI is being heard in a federal court, involving important legal issues.
⚖️ OpenAI and Microsoft claim their use of copyrighted content falls under "fair use," while The New York Times argues it is copyright infringement.
⏳ The court's ruling will have significant implications for the legality of AI companies training on publishers' works.