A coalition of major Canadian news organizations has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind the AI chatbot ChatGPIT, accusing it of illegally using their copyrighted material to train its models.
The plaintiffs include major outlets such as the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, CBC, The Canadian Press, Metroland Media and Postmedia. This is the first legal action of its kind in Canada.
“Journalism serves the public interest. OpenAI’s use of other companies’ journalism for its own commercial purposes is illegal, media groups collectively said BBC News.
OpenAI defended its practices, saying that its AI models are built on “publicly available data” and follow “fair use and related international copyright principles”. “We collaborate closely with news publishers, including attribution, links to their content in ChatGPT search, and easy opt-out options when requested,” the company said.
The lawsuit, detailed in an 84-page filing, alleges that OpenAI ignored measures such as paywalls and copyright disclaimers to prevent unauthorized copying of content. The media coalition accused OpenAI of “snapping vast amounts of content from Canadian media to develop products like ChatGPT.”
The plaintiffs are reportedly seeking punitive damages of C$20,000 (£11,000) per article used without permission, potentially amounting to billions in compensation. Additionally, they are seeking an injunction preventing OpenAI from using their content in the future and sharing in the profits generated through the alleged misuse of their work.
The case follows similar lawsuits in the US, including a lawsuit by The New York Times, which last year accused OpenAI of destroying evidence crucial to its case. Additionally, a group of authors led by the Authors Guild and authors such as John Grisham have launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against the AI developer.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI was valued at C$219bn (£128bn) after the latest fundraising round.
(With inputs from BBC News)
Click Here For latest news and updates US Presidential Election 2024