The massive coalition of local newspaper publishers filed a federal lawsuit June 24 against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the technology companies systematically copied copyrighted reporting from nearly 400 local newspapers to train and develop commercial artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, without permission or compensation.
The publishers, represented by Platkin LLP, a law firm founded earlier this year by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, contend that OpenAI and Microsoft unlawfully appropriated original news content to build their AI systems, violating the Copyright Act and threatening the future of local journalism.
The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI knowingly stripped copyright management information from publishers’ work — including author bylines, copyright notices and terms of use information — in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
