A group of major Canadian news outlets has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. They claim OpenAI is unlawfully using their news articles to train its AI models. This includes prominent organizations like the Toronto Star, CBC, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, Metroland Media, and The Canadian Press.
The publishers argue that OpenAI’s actions are illegal. They say the company is using their content for commercial benefit without consent. The group emphasized that journalism serves the public interest, and OpenAI’s practices harm both creators and innovation.
Alleged Copyright Breach and Legal Action
OpenAI contends that its models are trained using publicly available data. The company claims it follows fair use principles and collaborates with news publishers, offering options to opt-out of content use. However, the Canadian media coalition argues OpenAI ignores safeguards like paywalls and copyright protections. They accuse the company of scraping large amounts of content without permission to develop its products, including ChatGPT.
The media outlets are seeking damages of C$20,000 ($14,300; £11,000) per article used without authorization. The total damages could reach billions of dollars. They also demand that OpenAI share profits from using their content and stop using their articles in the future.
This lawsuit is the first of its kind in Canada but follows similar actions in the U.S. Last year, the New York Times and other publishers filed a similar lawsuit against OpenAI. The Authors Guild and several well-known authors, including John Grisham, have also accused the company of copyright infringement. Recently, OpenAI was valued at C$219 billion after a new round of fundraising.