An ongoing legal dispute between the renowned publisher New York Times (NYT) and artificial intelligence (AI) firm OpenAI entered a new phase on July 1. OpenAI made a request to the court that the publisher substantiate the originality of its articles by presenting detailed source materials for each copyrighted work. The NYT accused OpenAI of utilizing its articles to train AI models without permission or compensation, while OpenAI defended its use by stating that the materials were gathered fairly from internet sources.
OpenAI, as reported by TorrentFreak, filed a petition on July 1 in a U.S. court in New York requesting the judge to instruct the NYT to provide evidence demonstrating the originality of their copyrighted works. This request seemingly covers a broad spectrum of articles published by the NYT that may have been available online.
Furthermore, OpenAI requested that the NYT furnish comprehensive information regarding the authorship process for each article. OpenAI's legal team highlighted that the NYT invested significant resources in creating their works, including in-depth investigations into various public interest areas over extended periods. Therefore, OpenAI argued that they have the right to explore similar details through the discovery process.
In response to OpenAI's request, the legal representatives of the New York Times submitted a rebuttal on July 3, expressing their opposition to the demand and urging the judge to reject it. The NYT's lawyers asserted that OpenAI's claim for access to all documentation related to the creation of each work, to verify their protectable intellectual property, is unprecedented and contrary to copyright law principles.
The New York Times' motion to dismiss emphasizes that the method of creating copyrighted material is irrelevant to its use in the present case. As of the latest available information, no additional documents have been disclosed to the public. The outcome of this legal battle and the judge's response to the conflicting motions are yet to be determined.
