Major digital news publishers join copyright battle against OpenAI
New Delhi: Several prominent digital news organisations filed an intervention application in the Delhi High Court on Monday regarding ANI’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI. HT Digital Streams, IE Online Media Services Private Limited, NDTV Convergence, and the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) seek to participate in the legal proceedings, citing the case’s potential impact on news collection and distribution methods.
Anant Goenka, Executive Director of the Indian Express Group, noted that tech platforms globally have established market values for news content through legislation or commercial agreements over the past 5-7 years. He highlighted that AI companies have formed arrangements with news organisations in various international markets.
The intervention application, filed one day before the next scheduled hearing, alleges that OpenAI’s use of news content without proper licensing or authorisation violates intellectual property rights. The applicants argue that the case’s outcome will significantly affect both journalists employed by DNPA members and the broader Indian news industry.
The application emphasises OpenAI’s existing licensing agreements with international news publishers, including Associated Press, The Atlantic, and News Corp, for AI model training and content integration. These agreements, according to the application, demonstrate OpenAI’s recognition of the need for proper licensing. DNPA raised concerns about Big Tech platforms, particularly search engines, social media platforms, and web scraping services, monetizing news content without compensating publishers. The organisation highlighted that search engines serve as primary access points for news consumption, giving these platforms substantial control over audience reach. DNPA has previously addressed these concerns with various authorities, including the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The Federation of Indian Publishers, another industry body, has also requested to join the lawsuit, stating that the case’s implications extend beyond news publishers and agencies.
In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI has contested the jurisdiction of Indian courts, maintaining that none of the disputed data was processed or stored within India.
The Delhi High Court, under Justice Amit Bansal, appointed academic Arul George Scaria and lawyer Adarsh Ramanajun as amici curiae in November to assist with the case.
This legal action in India parallels similar global lawsuits against AI companies, including OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, and Perplexity. These cases generally contend that AI companies use copyrighted and paywalled content for model training, resulting in chatbots that redirect traffic from original content creators and reduce their revenue potential. None of these international lawsuits, including those in the United States, have reached a conclusion.
Additionally, social media platforms face legal challenges, with users filing lawsuits against companies like LinkedIn for allegedly using private messages and public posts to train AI algorithms without obtaining user consent.
The Times Group, while being a DNPA member, is not participating in the current intervention application.
