Canadian News Publishers Sue OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Violations

Canadian news publishers sue OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT uses copyrighted content without permission, sparking debate over AI innovation and intellectual property rights.

on Dec 02, 2024

Canadian News Publishers Sue OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Violations | Frontlist

A group of Canadian news publishers including The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that its ChatGPT system improperly uses copyrighted news content for training without permission or compensation.

The publishers jointly issued a statement on Friday, accusing OpenAI of scraping vast amounts of content from Canadian media and making profit from it. They insisted that this practice goes against the huge financial investment placed in journalism and further said their content is protected by law through copyright.

Technological innovation is welcome, but all players must follow the law. Intellectual property use must be fair, the statement emphasized.

Defense by OpenAI

According to OpenAI, its models are trained on publicly available data and follow international copyright principles that support both creators and innovation. The company also underscored its partnership with news publishers, where it is offering attribution and links in the search results of ChatGPT and making it very easy for publishers to opt out.

International Context

This is the first such case in Canada, but such cases are underway in the U.S. One high-profile case has been filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft. Other media houses have agreed to work with the AI firms. Some of the organizations have agreed to a licensing deal, sharing content with AI for training purposes. Such organizations include the Associated Press, News Corp., and The Financial Times.

Legislation and Tech Giants' Response

It's a requirement of Canada's Online News Act that major tech companies such as Google and Meta have to compensate publishers for using their content. While Google has already agreed to pay $100 million CAD to Canadian outlets, Meta has taken the route of removing news from its platforms.

The lawsuit shows the increasing strain between AI innovation and intellectual property rights, with media seeking fair compensation in this increasingly digital landscape.