In India, well-known news media have joined an existing lawsuit against the developers of ChatGPT. The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and others accuse OpenAI of knowingly using and storing their content to distribute it through ChatGPT and train their AI models, reports Reuters.
These media companies, along with other firms owned by two Indian billionaires, have joined a lawsuit filed in 2024 by the news agency ANI (Asian News International). They informed the Delhi High Court of their involvement after both international and Indian book publishers had already joined the lawsuit. This aims to give the case more momentum, as it is the most prominent legal dispute in India on this topic, according to Reuters. The companies involved believe their copyright has been violated.
In recent months, OpenAI has partnered with major publications like Time Magazine, Financial Times, and Business Insider, which is part of Axel Springer SE, to use their content. Such collaborations are currently lacking in India, which the affected news organizations say harms their business.
Fair Use or Not?
OpenAI claims its use of content falls under the “Fair Use” clause, which is part of US copyright law. This clause allows the use of protected works even without the creator’s permission, provided the end product serves educational purposes, offers criticism, is transformative, a parody, or part of news reporting. Only then is the use considered “Fair Use.”
OpenAI has repeatedly emphasized that it engages in constructive dialogue with many news organizations and uses only publicly available data to train its AI models.
In response to ANI’s original lawsuit, OpenAI pointed out that deleting the training data of AI models would violate legal obligations in the US. Moreover, Indian courts would have no jurisdiction over the data since the servers are located outside their jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs argue that OpenAI is becoming a profitable company and benefits from the creative work of the media industry, which could have financial implications.
Stargate
The lawsuit’s expansion comes in the context of the recently announced AI project “Stargate” by US President Donald Trump. The US aims to become the undisputed leader in artificial intelligence with a $500 billion investment, with initial work already underway in Texas. As the involved companies require more data for further development, it remains to be seen whether the approach to copyright and the use of third-party content will change.
Lawsuits against OpenAI are not limited to India. In the United States, the New York Times is taking action against OpenAI’s largest financial backer, Microsoft, accusing the company of using countless articles without obtaining permission from the authors.
OpenAI is also facing legal proceedings in Canada.