Canadian media companies sue OpenAI for copyright infringement, could cost $322 billion

A coalition of five Canadian media companies are suing OpenAI Inc. and several of its subsidiaries over the alleged use of copyrighted material by ChatGPT. The plaintiffs are seeking billions of dollars in compensation. Torstar Corp.’s Toronto Star and Metroland Media Group divisions, Postmedia Network Inc., The Globe and Mail Inc., Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., and CBC/Radio-Canada launched the action Friday Nov. 29 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In its statement of claim, the coalition alleges ChatGPT illegally scraped news stories from the plaintiffs and reproduced them using artificial intelligence. It alleges millions of articles have been downloaded and is seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial, or a settlement of $20,000 per article; plus punitive damages and a permanent injunction against any further alleged copyright infringement from OpenAI. “OpenAI regularly breaches copyright and online terms of use by scraping large swaths of content from Canadian media to help develop its products, such as ChatGPT,” the quintet alleged in a statement. “OpenAI is capitalizing and profiting from the use of this content, without getting permission or compensating content owners. “OpenAI’s public statements that it is somehow fair or in the public interest for them to use other companies’ intellectual property for their own commercial gain is wrong” the plaintiffs argued. “Journalism is in the public interest. OpenAI using other companies' journalism for their own commercial gain is not. It's illegal.” READ MORE: - Creative orgs call for copyright protections to be added to AI bill - Coordinated effort is ‘essential’ in tackling AI policy issues, says Canadian Digital Regulators Forum - OPC launches investigation into ChatGPT CBC claims 3.6 million of its works have been illegally used by OpenAI. CP and Postmedia each say 3.5 million articles were taken. The Star alleges 3.2 million stories were used while the Globe puts its tally at 2.3 million. If the courts agree that OpenAI should pay $20,000 for each violation, it would be on the hook for $322 billion. Punitive damages could increase that total amount. "Our models are trained on publicly available data, grounded in fair use and related international copyright principles that are fair for creators and support innovation," said an OpenAI spokesperson in a statement to The Wire Report. "We collaborate closely with news publishers, including in the display, attribution and links to their content in ChatGPT search, and offer them easy ways to opt-out should they so desire.” None of the allegations has been tested in court. news@thewirereport.ca Editor's note: This story was updated to include a statement from OpenAI.

Canadian media companies sue OpenAI for copyright infringement, could cost $322 billion

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By Wire Report Staff
| November 29, 2024

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