A group of Canadian news organizations has filed a joint lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the company has unlawfully utilized their articles to develop its AI model.
Details of the Lawsuit
According to CBC, the lawsuit includes prominent news outlets like CBC/Radio-Canada, Postmedia, Metroland, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Press. They have submitted their case to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking "punitive damages" along with "payment of any profits that the company made from using news articles from the organizations."
Ongoing Legal Battles
This lawsuit is just one of many that news outlets have brought against OpenAI, accusing the company of scraping their data to enhance its chatbots. OpenAI is currently facing lawsuits from The New York Times, Center for Investigative Journalism, Chicago Tribune, ANI, and a host of other organizations.
OpenAI's Response
In a conversation with The Verge, Jason Deutrom, a spokesperson for OpenAI, mentioned that the company works "closely with news publishers," ensuring proper display, attribution, and linking to their content in ChatGPT search. He also stated that they provide simple methods for publishers to opt out if they wish.
In a collective statement, the Canadian news organizations asserted that OpenAI is "capitalizing and profiting" from their content "without obtaining permission or compensating content owners."
In an email to CBC, Deutrom explained that OpenAI's models were trained on data that is publicly accessible, affirming that the company follows "international copyright principles."
