OpenAI and Microsoft are facing another copyright infringement lawsuit, this time from nonfiction authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage. The authors allege that OpenAI and Microsoft stole their copyrighted works to aid in building artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This lawsuit follows a similar complaint by The New York Times against the two companies for copyright infringement. OpenAI has acknowledged that copyright owners, including the plaintiffs in these lawsuits, should be compensated for the use of their work. The NYT lawsuit seeks "billions of dollars" in damages, while the Basbanes and Gage suit is seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each copyright infringement.


Key Points:

  • New Lawsuit: Nonfiction authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the unauthorized use of their copyrighted works for AI training.

  • Similar to the NYT Lawsuit: The lawsuit comes a week after The New York Times filed a similar complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, claiming that the companies used the newspaper's content to train AI chatbots.

  • Acknowledgment by OpenAI: OpenAI has acknowledged that copyright owners, including the plaintiffs in these lawsuits, should be compensated for the use of their work.

  • Damages Sought: The lawsuit by Basbanes and Gage seeks damages of up to $150,000 for each copyright infringement.

  • NYT Lawsuit: The New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft is pursuing "billions of dollars" in damages.

  • Previous Lawsuits: OpenAI has faced other legal actions, including a proposed class-action lawsuit led by the Authors Guild and another lawsuit by author Julian Sancton, both alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted works for AI training.

  • California Class-Action Lawsuit: OpenAI is also facing a class-action lawsuit in California over allegations of scraping private user information from the internet to train ChatGPT without user consent.

Conclusion: OpenAI and Microsoft are confronted with another copyright infringement lawsuit, this time from nonfiction authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage. The authors allege that their copyrighted works were used without authorization for AI training purposes. This legal action follows a similar complaint by The New York Times against the companies. OpenAI has acknowledged the need to compensate copyright owners for the use of their work. The lawsuits seek damages for copyright infringement, with the NYT lawsuit pursuing "billions of dollars" in damages and the Basbanes and Gage suit seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each infringement. OpenAI faces multiple legal challenges related to the alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted material for AI training.


(AMAKA NWAOKOCHA, COINTELEGRAPH, 2023)