The corporations are being accused of pilfering their work in order to train OpenAI’s LLMs.
In November, a collection of authors who write non-fiction launched a complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of utilizing the intellectual property of other individuals without their permission in order to train the generative artificial intelligence technology that OpenAI has developed. Now, an increasing number of non-fiction writers are filing lawsuits against the firms for exploiting their work to train large language models (LLM) developed by OpenAI’s GPT. Nicholas A. Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, both journalists, have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the defendants, alleging that they have committed “massive and deliberate theft of copyrighted works” by writers and authors similar to themselves.
Professional authors “have limited capital to fund their research” and “typically self-fund their projects,” according to the complaint that they filed. According to the plaintiffs, the defendants have “ready access to billions in capital” and “simply stole” the plaintiffs’ “copyrighted works to build another billion+ dollar commercial industry,” as stated in the lawsuit. The complaint states that the corporations are engaging in a “deliberate strategy” by using works that are protected by copyright, and that by not compensating writers, they are providing themselves with “an even higher profit margin.” Plaintiffs further stated that the corporations had the opportunity to investigate alternative financing methods, such as profit sharing, but instead “decided to steal” instead.
According to Basbanes and Gage, they are attempting “to represent a class of writers whose copyrighted work has been systematically pilfered” by the defendants. They are requesting a permanent injunction in addition to damages of up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars for each work that has been infringed upon, “to prevent these harms from recurring.” Basbanes is recognized as a “renowned authority on the history of books and book culture.” According to CNBC, Gage had previously held positions at other publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Times.
OpenAI is facing an increasing number of lawsuits filed by creatives who accuse the company of exploiting their work without permission in order to educate its LLMs. One of these claims was brought by fiction authors George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jodi Picoult. Late in the month of December 2023, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the corporation and Microsoft, the company’s largest supporter, for utilizing the newspaper’s articles for the purpose of training artificial intelligence. At the time, a spokesman from OpenAI informed us that both sides were having “productive conversations” and that the lawsuit was not something that was anticipated.