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Authors Guild v. OpenAI: The Writers Strike Back

Judge Stein denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss, letting the Authors Guild's copyright claims over training ChatGPT on books proceed to discovery.

By THEYDIDNTASK

TL;DR

  • —Judge Stein denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss the Authors Guild class action on October 28, 2024.
  • —The court accepted that ChatGPT outputs can be 'substantially similar' to the training books.
  • —Discovery will reveal OpenAI's training data; the fair use defense will be fully litigated.

OpenAI

On October 28, 2024, Judge Sidney H. Stein ruled that the Authors Guild's copyright infringement claims against OpenAI could proceed. George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and 15 other prominent authors are coming for their check.

The Allegations

The Authors Guild claims:

  • OpenAI trained ChatGPT on copyrighted books without permission

  • The AI can generate outputs substantially similar to original works

  • This threatens authors' livelihoods and the literary profession

The "Substantial Similarity" Test

OpenAI tried to argue that ChatGPT outputs aren't similar enough to the original books. Judge Stein disagreed.

Using Game of Thrones as an example, he noted that ChatGPT summaries:

  • Convey the overall tone and feel of the original

  • Parrot the plot, characters, and themes

  • Could constitute copyright infringement

The Key Quote: "The Consolidated Class Action Complaint adequately states a prima facie claim of copyright infringement based on ChatGPT's outputs."

What This Means

The case now moves to discovery, where:

  • OpenAI must reveal its training data sources

  • The fair use defense will be fully litigated

  • The scope of potential damages will be determined

Discovery deadline: April 30, 2025

The Broader War

This is just one front:

  • New York Times v. OpenAI/Microsoft - Ongoing

  • Getty Images v. Stability AI - In trial

  • RIAA v. Suno/Udio - AI music generators

  • Disney v. Midjourney - Visual arts

The courts are slowly deciding: Did AI companies commit the largest copyright heist in history?

How to Respond

For Authors:

  • Join the Authors Guild

  • Document your copyrighted works

  • Monitor AI outputs for similarities

For AI Users:

  • Understand the ethical implications

  • Support creators directly

  • Question where your AI's knowledge came from

The Reality: Every book ChatGPT has "read" was someone's life work. Pay the authors.

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