US media ask court to give little weight to DOJ position on OpenAI — The Hill

A group of media outlets in the United States that are suing OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement has asked a court to give little weight to the position of the US Department of Justice, which previously supported the company. This was reported by The Hill.

The plaintiffs include The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and other outlets. They said the US administration's position may have been influenced by external factors, including political and financial interests. The media outlets also referred to the Donald Trump administration's ties with companies in the artificial intelligence sector, including donations.

Lawsuit against OpenAI

The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2023, accusing the company of improperly using the newspaper's copyrighted materials to train artificial intelligence models. Other media outlets later joined the case.

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OpenAI argues that its actions fall under the fair use doctrine, which in certain cases allows the use of copyrighted content without the permission of the rights holder.

Department of Justice position

In early September, the Trump administration supported OpenAI in a court filing. It stated that the media outlets' interpretation of the fair use doctrine could hinder creative and scientific progress, as well as American prosperity and economic mobility.

The plaintiffs noted that before filing a statement of interest in a case, the government usually consults relevant agencies. According to Axios, the US Patent and Trademark Office and the Copyright Office were surprised by the DOJ's position. The media outlets also said the department did not take the Copyright Office's position into account and sought to weaken it by criticizing the agency's reasoning and referring to the administration's attempts to remove the register of copyrights.