The Center for Investigative Reporting, the nonprofit behind Mother Jones and Reveal, has joined the growing list of media outlets taking legal action against Microsoft and OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement.
The Verge Reports The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has filed a lawsuit against tech giants Microsoft and OpenAI. The nonprofit, known for publishing left-leaning publications like Mother Jones and Reveal, claims the companies are violating its copyrights by using its content without permission or compensation.
The lawsuit, announced last weekend, follows similar legal actions filed by other major media outlets, including: The New York Times The publication group is owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. This latest development highlights growing concerns within the journalism industry about AI companies improperly using journalism industry content to train large-scale language models.
Monica Bauerlein, CEO of the Center for Investigative Journalism, expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation, saying, “OpenAI and Microsoft began siphoning off our stories to make their products more powerful, but unlike other organizations that license our material, they never asked for permission or offered to compensate us,” and further emphasized that this practice is not only unfair, but also a clear violation of copyright law.
The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft’s actions have had far-reaching effects on CIR. Not only have the tech companies copied CIR’s content, but they have also damaged the organization’s relationships with its readers and partners, according to the complaint. Additionally, CIR claims that the unauthorized use of its materials has caused it to lose a vital source of revenue.
The legal battle is part of a broader trend in the media industry in which different media outlets are taking similar steps to protect their intellectual property. The New York TimesFor example, it has already committed $1 million to a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. Other publications joining the fray include: New York Daily News, Chicago TribuneIntercept, Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Denver Post.
News organizations aren’t the only ones concerned about this practice: A group of authors has also filed lawsuits against OpenAI, with mixed results (for example, a lawsuit involving comedian Sarah Silverman was partially dismissed).
It’s worth noting, however, that not all media companies have taken an adversarial approach. Some have opted to cooperate rather than sue, signing licensing agreements with OpenAI. These include The Associated Press, Axel Springer, and Yahoo! News. Financial TimesDotdash Meredith, News Corp, Vox Media, The Atlantic and Time.
In response to the growing controversy, OpenAI announced it was working to build partnerships with the news industry. A company spokesperson told CNBC, “We work with the news industry and partner with news publishers around the world to surface content, including summaries, quotes, and attributions, in our products, like ChatGPT, and drive traffic back to the original articles.”
So far, neither OpenAI nor Microsoft have responded directly to CIR’s requests for comment on the lawsuit, leaving many questions about how these tech giants plan to address the media industry’s growing concerns.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
