On 13 February 2024, a federal judge in California partially dismissed a copyright lawsuit brought by authors, including Sarah Silverman, Michael Chabon, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, against OpenAI. The authors claimed that OpenAI used their books without authorization to train its ChatGPT language model.

US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted OpenAI's request to dismiss certain claims, refuting arguments that ChatGPT's generated content violated copyrights and that the company unfairly benefited. The judge determined that the authors did not adequately clarify the similarities between the outputs and their books. Nevertheless, Martinez-Olguin allowed the authors to submit an amended complaint by 13 March 2024.

OpenAI, in conjunction with other tech firms, contends that their AI training aligns with fair use principles and that these legal actions threaten the AI sector. The court has yet to address the broader issue of whether utilizing internet-scraped material for AI training constitutes widespread copyright infringement. Additionally, the authors aimed to stop similar lawsuits in New York, characterizing them as "copycat" cases.

Why does it matter?

The partial dismissal of the lawsuit against OpenAI has implications for using authors' works in training AI models. It raises questions about the boundaries of fair use in AI development, impacting OpenAI and other tech companies facing similar legal challenges. The case highlights the ongoing legal debates surrounding AI industry practices, potentially influencing future regulations and shaping the landscape for intellectual property rights in the digital era.