A coalition of Canada’s leading media establishments has initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, alleging unauthorized appropriation of their content. This landmark case represents the first of its kind in Canada concerning artificial intelligence and copyright rights. The legal action was filed in Ontario Superior Court, brought forth by five major news publishers, including the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
The lawsuit echoes a similar legal challenge filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft in the United States last year, where they also claimed violations relating to the use of news articles in AI training. The U.S. firms have denied the allegations made against them.
In a statement regarding the Canadian lawsuit, an OpenAI spokesperson noted, “We have not yet had the opportunity to review the allegations,” but emphasized that their models operate on publicly available data and are in line with fair use principles.
The Canadian media outlets are seeking substantial financial compensation, potentially amounting to billions of dollars. They are claiming damages of approximately 20,000 Canadian dollars (around $14,700) for each article they believe was illegally acquired and utilized to develop ChatGPT. Additionally, the outlets are demanding a cut of the profits generated from the supposed misuse of their content and an injunction against OpenAI, seeking to prevent these practices from continuing in the future.
