The NY Times Lawsuit Against OpenAI Would Open Up The NY Times To All Sorts Of Lawsuits Should It Win
Dec 28, 2023 - techdirt.com
The New York Times (NYT) is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that their generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools infringe on the newspaper's copyright by using its articles to train the AI. The lawsuit argues that the AI tools, which generate text based on input data, threaten the NYT's journalism by creating competing products without permission or payment. However, critics argue that the lawsuit misunderstands how AI works and misrepresents copyright law, which does not limit the right to read or process data. They also suggest that if the NYT wins, it could open itself up to similar lawsuits given its practice of summarizing other outlets' articles without credit.
Key takeaways:
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that their generative artificial intelligence tools infringe on the Times' copyright by using its articles for training.
The lawsuit argues that the AI tools threaten the Times' journalism by creating substitutive products without permission or payment.
The Times' lawsuit is similar to other lawsuits filed by copyright holders against AI companies, which often misunderstand copyright law and falsely believe that reading something implicates copyright.
If the Times wins its case, it could potentially open itself up to lawsuits given its practices of summarizing other people's articles without credit.
