Canadian publishers have initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, potentially leading to claims for billions of dollars in compensation. The lawsuit, filed in the Ontario Superior Court, alleges that OpenAI used copyrighted content from various news organizations to train its large language models (LLMs) without obtaining proper consent. Each infringing article could result in compensation claims of up to 20,000 CAD (approximately 14,239 USD).
The plaintiffs in this case include notable Canadian media entities such as The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, CBC, Toronto Star, Metroland Media, and Postmedia. In their joint statement, these organizations accused OpenAI of “intentionally and systematically exploiting the plaintiff’s valuable journalistic works.” They argue that this practice not only infringes on copyright but also poses significant harm to the journalism sector.
The lawsuit contends that OpenAI collected data from the news websites of these organizations to develop its GPT model without authorization. The publishers claim that OpenAI is “stripping value from the press to illegally enrich itself” and highlight that while the press serves the public interest, OpenAI is allegedly leveraging it for commercial advantage without legal justification.
In addition to seeking financial compensation, the publishers are calling for a prohibition on OpenAI’s continued use of their articles and are requesting a share of the profits generated from the use of this content.
This legal action is not OpenAI’s first encounter with copyright-related disputes. Previously, the company faced a lawsuit from The New York Times, which also sought billions in compensation. In response to such claims, OpenAI has argued that its models are trained on publicly available data and that their usage falls within the scope of “fair use.”
OpenAI representatives noted that they are working with publishers to ensure proper attribution and provide links to original content in the ChatGPT search function. They also mentioned that publishers have the option to refuse the use of their content if they choose to do so.
In addition to the lawsuit from Canadian publishers, OpenAI, along with its major partner Microsoft, is grappling with multiple other legal challenges. Notably, Elon Musk recently filed a suit aimed at preventing OpenAI from shifting to a for-profit business model, alleging that the company is attempting to monopolize the generative AI market.
As litigation involving OpenAI continues to escalate, the company’s legal circumstances remain a focal point of discussion within the tech industry.
