The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in December 2023, alleging copyright infringement. Now, OpenAI is challenging the newspaper to prove its articles were “original, human-authored content.”
Many media outlets reported that The Times accused OpenAI and Microsoft of using its extensive archive of articles to train ChatGPT.
In response, OpenAI’s lawyers filed a request on Monday, asking the Times to provide evidence of originality. They sought “underlying reporter’s notes, interview memos, records of materials cited, or other ‘files’ for each asserted work” but did not request confidential information, such as sources’ names.
On Wednesday, the Times filed a response, claiming OpenAI’s request was intended for “harassment and retaliation for The Times’s decision to file this lawsuit.” The newspaper described the demand for extensive documentation as unprecedented and overly broad.
The Times stated, “OpenAI is not entitled to unbounded discovery into nearly 100 years of underlying reporters’ files, on the off chance that such a frolic might conceivably raise a doubt about the validity of The Times’s registered copyrights.”
The filing also noted, “OpenAI cites no caselaw permitting such invasive discovery, and for good reason. It is far outside the scope of what’s allowed under the Federal Rules and serves no purpose other than harassment and retaliation.”
The Times is not alone in its legal battle against OpenAI. The Center for Investigative Reporting also sued the AI company for copyright infringement in late June, joining a growing number of U.S. media organizations taking a stand against alleged copyright violations by OpenAI.