Growing Legal Challenges for OpenAI
Copyright lawsuits are increasingly piling up for the developer of ChatGPT, OpenAI.
In 2023, the company behind the world’s most remarkable chatbot received complaints from Sarah Silverman and John Grisham over its alleged use of copyrighted books. The authors claimed that ChatGPT provides detailed summaries of plots from copyrighted books on demand, indicating that OpenAI utilized these books to train the AI.
In November 2024, a German music collection and licensing agency, Gema, sued the company for the alleged unauthorized use of texts. Gema stated that ChatGPT “reproduces protected songs by German authors without obtaining licenses or compensating the artists.”
Indian Lawsuit and Its Implications
However, this is not the end of OpenAI’s legal challenges. The company is also facing a copyright lawsuit in India, where music labels are attempting to join in.
Reuters reports that Saregama, Series T, and the Indian Musical Industry (Them) approached the court in New Delhi on February 13 to express concerns about the “unauthorized use of sound recordings” in training OpenAI’s artificial intelligence models.
Music companies are worried that OpenAI and other AI systems can extract song lyrics, musical compositions, and sound notes from the Internet, according to an unnamed industry source, as reported by Reuters.
Them represents the interests of sound recording labels in India, including all three major players: Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music.
The statements from the music companies “are crucial for the entire music industry in India and even around the world,” they asserted in court, as noted by Reuters.
Broader Implications for AI Companies
The lawsuit in India, which the music companies wish to join, was initially filed in November by Indian news agency Ani, which claimed that OpenAI used its content to train its AI and sought 20 million rupees (approximately 230,000 US dollars) in damages.
Earlier this month, more than a dozen other news companies, including Indian Express, The Hindu, Indian Media Group, and NDTV, filed to join the lawsuit, as per a report from BBC.
Reports indicate that India is the second-largest market for ChatGPT after the United States.
Publishers, represented by the Federation of Indian Book Publishers, are also seeking to join this lawsuit. The Federation includes numerous publishers, featuring major international names such as Bloomsbury, Cambridge University Press, McGraw Hill, Penguin Random House, and Wiley.
Alongside the lawsuits from authors in the United States, book publishers are citing ChatGPT’s detailed plot summaries as evidence that OpenAI utilized copyrighted books to train its AI models.
OpenAI defends itself against these accusations, asserting that it complies with “fair use” principles and only uses publicly available data. The company has also attempted to dismiss the case by arguing that Indian courts lack jurisdiction due to its U.S.-based headquarters. Lawyers quoted by Reuters noted this claim.
Like in the U.S., India has provisions for “fair use” which allows certain uses of copyrighted materials under specific circumstances. Experts in Indian law state that determinations regarding fair use are made on a case-by-case basis, with the economic impact of unauthorized use being a significant factor in these assessments.
Record companies in India want to join a lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI
