This New York Times lawsuit was largely expected after licensing talks broke down with OpenAI last year. The complaint accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, violation of the DMCA, unfair competition, and trademark dilution.
The complaint states, “For months, The Times has attempted to reach a negotiated agreement with Defendants, in accordance with its history of working productively with large technology platforms to permit the use of its content in new digital products (including the news products developed by Google, Meta, and Apple). The Times’s goal during these negotiations was to ensure it received fair value for the use of its content, facilitate the continuation of a healthy news ecosystem, and help develop GenAI technology in a responsible way that benefits society and supports a well-informed public. These negotiations have not led to a resolution.”
The filing is worth a browse, since it offers screenshot comparisons of New York Times content next to AI-generated content, as seen below. However, the New York Times did have to engage in extensive and specific prompting to produce these results. TechDirt, while entirely dismissive of the New York Times in its analysis (which matches its long-standing dismissive approach to copyright protection), does make some good points about why this is not quite as bad as it looks.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
