OpenAI Faces Lawsuit from Bestselling Authors Over Copyright Infringement

OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, is currently embroiled in a legal battle with a group of prominent authors, which includes names like George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Elin Hilderbrand. The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of using their literary works in its “large language models,” allegedly violating their copyrights and engaging in “systematic theft on a mass scale.” The lawsuit was officially filed in the Southern District of New York on a Tuesday, with the Authors Guild and 17 renowned writers, such as Scott Turow, Jodi Picoult, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, and George Saunders, backing the claim. OpenAI, as of now, has not responded to this legal challenge.

This legal complaint is just the latest in a series of challenges faced by OpenAI concerning the data it collects and employs to develop the algorithm underpinning ChatGPT. This artificial intelligence tool is designed to respond to questions and generate text in a sophisticated language that mimics human-like responses. To create these AI models, organizations like OpenAI rely on large language models (LLMs) that are trained on vast volumes of text and data.

The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT and the LLMs supporting it pose a significant threat to the livelihood of the very authors whose works they have been ‘trained’ on without their consent. Moreover, it claims that ChatGPT is being used to produce low-quality ebooks that impersonate authors, ultimately displacing books authored by humans.

An intriguing aspect of this legal dispute is the claim that ChatGPT has been used by a programmer named Liam Swayne to “write” sequels to George R.R. Martin’s popular series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” which was famously adapted into the HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Despite Martin currently working on the final two novels in the series, Swayne used ChatGPT to create his own versions, which he subsequently published online. The lawsuit highlights that ChatGPT generated accurate summaries for several of Martin’s novels, including ‘A Game of Thrones,’ ‘A Clash of Kings,’ and ‘A Storm of Swords,’ the first three books in the series. It also noted that ChatGPT produced prequels and alternate versions of Martin’s books. The complaint asserts that ChatGPT could not have produced these results without ingesting and being ‘trained’ on Martin’s works.

The lawsuit goes further by seeking class-action status, aiming to represent “tens of thousands” of authors whose works may have been used by OpenAI’s programs. The other authors joining this legal action include Mary Bly, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen, Christina Baker Kline, Maya Shanbhag Lang, Victor LaValle, Douglas Preston, Roxana Robinson, and Rachel Vail. These authors are pursuing a court order to prohibit OpenAI from using copyrighted works in LLMs without “express authorization.” Additionally, they are seeking damages, potentially up to $150,000 for each infringed work.

This legal battle raises important questions about the use of AI and copyrighted material and may set a precedent for how artificial intelligence models can utilize existing creative works.