Lawsuit filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft: Copyright VS Ai

Source: The post lawsuit filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft has been created, based on the article “Copyright VS Ai” published in “Indian express” on 6th April 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3– Science and technology-Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers, robotics, nanotechnology, issues relating to intellectual property rights

News: This article discusses a lawsuit filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft. The NYT claims these companies used its copyrighted content without permission to train their AI models, which then created similar content, potentially infringing on NYT’s copyrights.

For details information on generative artificial intelligence read Article1, Article 2, Article 3

How does the NYT argue its case?

Claims of Content Usage: The NYT claims OpenAI and Microsoft used its content, like articles and opinion pieces, to train their AI without permission.

AI Generating Similar Outputs: They argue this AI can generate outputs like NYT’s style, sometimes using verbatim text.

Competition and Financial Impact: The lawsuit suggests this capability competes directly with the NYT, potentially taking away readers and revenue. The newspaper mentions financial losses but doesn’t specify an amount, seeking an injunction instead.

Targeted and Extensive Use of NYT Content: The NYT emphasizes that their content was specifically targeted and extensively used in AI training.

Argument Against Fair Use: The NYT contests the idea that this usage constitutes fair use, arguing that it’s not transformative and directly competes with their original works.

What is OpenAI and Microsoft’s Defense?

OpenAI’s Defense Against Hacking Claims: The article mentions OpenAI’s response, stating that “the Times paid someone to hack OpenAI’s products” to generate specific results for their complaint.

Allegation of Manipulating AI Results: OpenAI asserts that it took the NYT “tens of thousands of attempts” and exploiting a bug through “deceptive prompts” to elicit verbatim passages of NYT articles.

Comparison to VCR Legal Battle: Microsoft draws a parallel to the historical lawsuit involving VCRs, where the entertainment industry initially opposed them, fearing copyright infringement. This comparison is made to highlight how new technology, despite initial resistance, can ultimately benefit an industry.

Technological Innovation and Consumer Choice: Microsoft emphasizes the importance of supporting technological advancements and consumer choice, suggesting that restricting AI development could hinder progress in these areas.

Way forward

Moving forward, the resolution of this lawsuit could set a precedent for how AI technology uses copyrighted material. Collaborative approaches, like those between Axel Springer and OpenAI, might offer a model for balancing innovation with copyright protection.

Questions for practice:

Examine how The New York Times argues its case against OpenAI and Microsoft in the lawsuit regarding the alleged unauthorized use of NYT’s copyrighted content for training AI models.