New WIRED report dives deep into every major AI copyright lawsuit

There’s been an unprecedented wave of AI-related copyright litigation in the United States, with content creators and publishers challenging AI companies’ use of copyrighted materials for training their models.

Historical context: The current wave of AI copyright litigation began in May 2020 when Thomson Reuters sued Ross Intelligence over alleged copyright violations involving its Westlaw legal research platform.

• The lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, though initially overlooked, marked the beginning of a broader legal battle between content publishers and AI companies
• Ross Intelligence has since gone out of business due to litigation costs, though the case continues with no clear end in sight
• The case predated the generative AI boom by more than two years, proving prescient of coming conflicts

Key players and allegations: The legal landscape has expanded to include numerous high-profile plaintiffs across various creative industries challenging AI companies’ use of copyrighted content.

• Individual creators like Sarah Silverman and Ta Nehisi-Coates have filed suits protecting their intellectual property
• Major institutions including The New York Times and Universal Music Group have joined the legal fray
• Defendants include industry leaders such as OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, and Nvidia

Legal framework and defense strategies: AI companies are primarily defending their training practices through the fair use doctrine, a legal principle that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission.

• Fair use traditionally covers activities like parody, news reporting, and academic research
• AI companies argue that training artificial intelligence models should qualify as fair use
• The outcome of these cases could establish new precedents for how fair use applies to AI development

Current status: Many of these lawsuits are in active litigation, with significant implications for both the AI industry and content creators.

• The New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft is currently in the discovery phase
• Parties are engaged in disputes over information disclosure requirements
• Multiple cases are proceeding simultaneously across various jurisdictions

Looking ahead: The resolution of these copyright lawsuits will likely reshape the relationship between AI development and intellectual property rights, potentially requiring new frameworks for compensating content creators while allowing for technological innovation. The outcomes could fundamentally alter how AI companies access and use training data, potentially leading to new business models and partnerships between content creators and AI developers.