A group of non-fiction authors recently filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence research companies OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the tech giants of copyright infringement. The authors allege that OpenAI and Microsoft used their books and academic journals without permission to train large language models like ChatGPT.
The complaint was filed on behalf of the authors by Julian Sancton, who spent five years researching and writing his non-fiction book “Madhouse at the End of the Earth.” In their lawsuit, the authors argue they spent years creating their literary works, yet OpenAI and Microsoft have refused to compensate them while building multi-billion-dollar businesses by exploiting copyrighted materials.
OpenAI has previously stated that the content generated by AI systems like ChatGPT does not qualify as derivative work and hence does not violate copyright. However, this latest lawsuit joins similar complaints filed earlier this year by authors like Michael Chabon and George R.R. Martin over the alleged use of copyrighted works. Comedian Sarah Silverman has also sued OpenAI and Meta on the same grounds.
The current lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief against OpenAI and Microsoft over the alleged copyright infringement. The authors argue that copyright law grants them exclusive rights over the reproduction and distribution of their creations. They accuse the tech companies of violating those rights by exploiting literary works without permission.
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