Pulitzer-winning authors join OpenAI, Microsoft copyright lawsuit

A consortium of 11 esteemed nonfiction authors, including renowned Pulitzer Prize winners Taylor Branch, Stacy Schiff, and Kai Bird, has launched a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against tech titans OpenAI and Microsoft. The lawsuit alleges the misuse of the authors' literary works to train artificial intelligence models, notably OpenAI's ChatGPT and other AI-driven software.

Presenting their case on Tuesday, the authors accused the companies of breaching their copyrights by utilising their written content to train OpenAI's expansive GPT language models. This legal action asserts that OpenAI and Microsoft profited immensely from the unauthorised use of these nonfiction books, demanding fair compensation and redress for the authors' contributions.

Attorney Rohit Nath, representing the writers, asserted on Wednesday, "The defendants are profiting substantially from their unauthorised use of nonfiction books, and the rightful authors deserve equitable compensation and acknowledgement for their intellectual property."

The initial lawsuit, spearheaded by writer and Hollywood Reporter editor Julian Sancton last month, has now evolved into a proposed class-action lawsuit. This legal move aligns with similar actions taken by other prominent authors such as John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, and Jonathan Franzen, all alleging copyright infringement by OpenAI and other tech entities in their AI training protocols.

OpenAI and Microsoft, however, have refuted these allegations. Notably, Microsoft's integration of OpenAI's systems into its products and its substantial investment in the AI startup adds complexity to the legal discourse.

In the amended complaint lodged on Monday, the authors claimed that OpenAI had 'scraped' their works and various copyrighted materials from the internet without due authorisation. The lawsuit underscored Microsoft's significant involvement in the training and evolution of these AI models, thereby holding the tech giant equally accountable for copyright infringement.

The authors seek unspecified monetary damages and a court order mandating the cessation of copyright infringement by the implicated companies. This legal battle stands as a pivotal moment in defining the boundaries and responsibilities of tech enterprises utilising copyrighted material for AI development.

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