Judge Weighs Fair Use Argument in Microsoft-OpenAI Copyright Case

A Manhattan judge is considering a key aspect of a major copyright infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI. News organizations, including the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times, have filed summary judgment motions, arguing that the tech giants' use of their reporting without permission does not constitute 'fair use'. The news outlets claim that this practice has led to a loss in website traffic and subscriptions for their publications.

Maryland-based OpenAI has acknowledged that a large portion of its users go to it for news, with over 1 billion people using ChatGPT as of June. According to the suit, the company's products have also given rise to a 'tsunami' of low-quality news sites that plagiarize or remix content from legitimate sources.

The tech companies deny these claims, stating that their use of human-produced journalism is transformative and protected under fair use laws. They argue that copyright law does not give the news organizations the right to block new technologies that do not replace their original expression.