The New York Daily News and affiliated news outlets in MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing Friday updated their copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that Microsoft egged on users to plagiarize their reporters’ work.
In an amended complaint filed in Manhattan Federal Court, lawyers for the news outlets and the New York Times accused OpenAI partner Microsoft of “expressly” encouraging users to republish reporting by journalists.
“Microsoft intentionally induced OpenAI’s infringement by actively encouraging OpenAI’s infringement,” the amended suit reads.
The complaint cites an example involving Daily News Mets beat writer Abbey Mastracco.
“[F]eel free to incorporate this information into your blog,” ChatGPT is quoted in the paperwork, responding to a user who said they needed content about “what the Mets see in Julio Teheran.”
The News, The Times and affiliated outlets in Tribune Publishing and MediaNews Group, along with other outlets, are suing OpenAI for allegedly stealing the work of journalists. They allege that the tech behemoths’ chatbots frequently distort the stolen work by providing incomplete or inaccurate summaries.
The news outlets allege that OpenAI’s theft hurt their ability to sell original content.
“Defendants’ illegal use and distribution of the Publishers’ Works damages the Publishers’ ability to attract and retain paying subscribers while at the same time eroding the Publishers’ ability to engage in and maintain licensing agreements with other publishers of news and information,” the complaint reads
More and more people are turning to AI for their news, which the tech companies have acknowledged in the ongoing litigation.
Frank Pine, executive editor at MediaNews Group, in a statement, said the examples highlighted in the amended complaint were self-explanatory.
“The evidence continues to prove that OpenAI stole our journalism to help them become among the world’s most valuable companies, and this updated legal filing is intended to shine the spotlight on precisely why they are liable for billions and billions of dollars in damages,” Pine said.
Lawyers for the news outlets in the litigation on Friday also moved to dismiss one of the allegations in the lawsuit, a claim of contributory copyright infringement.
The News reached out to spokespeople for OpenAI and Microsoft, who have denied wrongdoing, for comment.