Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Reporters Without Borders, PEN America, Protect Democracy and First Amendment scholars submitted a brief backing news publishers in copyright litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft. The publishers allege that OpenAI and Microsoft copied millions of news articles to train artificial intelligence models without authorization or payment. The case brought by The New York Times also incorporates similar lawsuits filed by the New York Daily News and the Center for Investigative Reporting. OpenAI and Microsoft maintain that using online material to train AI models qualifies as fair use. The source reports that the Trump administration’s Department of Justice supports that position. According to the source’s account of Associated Press reporting, the department argued in a court filing that the public benefits of AI training outweigh competitive harm.

The supporting brief challenges that assessment, arguing that AI chatbot responses can compete economically with the news articles used for training. The brief contends that reproducing information, sometimes verbatim, threatens the financial foundations of news publishing. The organizations connect copyright protection with constitutional protections for press freedom and the press’s democratic functions. Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF North America, argues that courts should protect publishers against AI training practices that exploit journalists’ work and generate competing products. The brief supports the publishers’ motion for summary judgment, and the plaintiffs seek billions of dollars in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft. These positions are allegations and arguments advanced in ongoing litigation.