Indian News Outlets Take Legal Action Against OpenAI

Major Indian news organizations have united to file a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, accusing them of unlawfully utilizing their content. Prominent publications such as the Indian Express and Hindustan Times have joined the ongoing legal battle, claiming that OpenAI knowingly uses and stores their material to enhance its AI models.

This lawsuit is an extension of an earlier complaint lodged in 2024 by Asian News International (ANI), which has now garnered support from various media entities and companies owned by two Indian billionaires. This collective legal action was brought to the attention of the Delhi High Court, especially after additional international and Indian publishing houses aligned themselves with the case. The plaintiffs argue that their copyright has been infringed upon.

In recent months, OpenAI has established partnerships with several prominent media outlets, including Time Magazine and the Financial Times, to gain permission for using their content. However, Indian news organizations have expressed concerns about the absence of similar agreements in their country, asserting that this lack of collaboration adversely affects their business.

OpenAI defends its practices by invoking the 'Fair Use' doctrine embedded in U.S. copyright law, which allows for the use of protected works without the creator's permission under certain conditions. Such conditions include the purpose of education, criticism, transformative use, parody, or news reporting. OpenAI has maintained that it relies solely on publicly available data for training its AI models and insists it is engaged in constructive dialogues with numerous news organizations.

Furthermore, OpenAI contends that complying with the initial ANI lawsuit by deleting its training data would conflict with its legal obligations in the United States, and it argues that Indian courts lack jurisdiction over the data since the servers are located outside their authority.

Opposing these claims, the plaintiffs argue that OpenAI is on a path to becoming a highly profitable entity, thereby benefiting financially from the creative efforts of the media industry.

The expansion of this lawsuit coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump's recent announcement of the AI initiative named Stargate, which aims to secure the United States' position as a leader in artificial intelligence with a budget of $500 billion. As companies involved in the initiative seek additional data for development, it remains to be seen how copyright issues and the ethical use of third-party content will evolve.

Legal challenges against OpenAI are not limited to India. In the United States, The New York Times has also filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, which is a significant financial supporter of OpenAI, accusing it of using numerous articles without obtaining prior permission from the authors. Additionally, OpenAI faces legal scrutiny in Canada.