Canadian media organisations sue OpenAI, want to ban ChatGPT from using their content

OpenAI ChatGPT

ChatGPT creator OpenAI is facing a fresh set of legal issues. Major news organisations in Canada have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI. The coalition of media organisations that have filed the case include CBC/Radio-Canada, Postmedia, Metroland, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press.

The media organisations are demanding compensation from OpenAI, including punitive damages, a share of any profits generated through the use of their news articles, and an injunction to prevent further unauthorised use of their content.

The media organisations argue that they invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually to deliver reliable journalism. This includes investigative reporting, fact-checked news, and original content in both English and French across all provinces and territories. “Their work is created for and about Canadians, requiring significant resources, and is protected by copyright laws,” the media organisations said in a statement.

The unauthorised use of intellectual property, they argue, undermines the value of Canadian journalism and poses a threat to the industry’s sustainability.

“OpenAI regularly breaches copyright and online terms of use by scraping large swaths of content from Canadian media to help develop its products, such as ChatGPT. OpenAI is capitalising and profiting from the use of this content, without getting permission or compensating content owners,” they said in the statement.

OpenAI has stated publicly that its use of external content is justified as being in the public interest. However, Canadian news media companies strongly disagree, describing this rationale as flawed and emphasising the need for fair compensation.

The claim seeks to enforce Canadian copyright laws and hold OpenAI accountable for what media organisations call “inappropriate and illegal use” of their content.

What OpenAI has to say

In a statement, OpenAI said that the models it users are “trained on publicly available data, grounded in fair use and related international copyright principles that are fair for creators and support innovation.”

“We collaborate closely with news publishers, including in the display, attribution and links to their content in ChatGPT search, and offer them easy ways to opt-out should they so desire,” OpenAI said in the statement.