Judge Dismisses Most Allegations in Lawsuit Against OpenAI
A federal judge has dismissed most of the allegations brought against OpenAI by several authors in a closely watched lawsuit. The authors, including Sarah Silverman and Paul Tremblay, claimed “vicarious copyright infringement” by OpenAI’s AI models. However, Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin of the Northern District of California ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support these claims. The judge stated that the plaintiffs failed to explain what the AI outputs entailed or prove substantial similarity to their books. The court did allow the claim that OpenAI trained its AI model on copyrighted material without permission to move forward. The authors have the option to amend and refile their claims.
Previous Lawsuits Against OpenAI
This is not the first time OpenAI has faced legal action regarding copyright infringement. The New York Times sued the company in December, alleging that its AI models were trained on articles from the publication. Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin and other authors also joined a lawsuit against OpenAI launched by the Authors Guild. Despite these allegations, Judge Martinez-Olguin found that the lawsuits lacked sufficient details.
Dismissal of Other Claims
In addition to copyright infringement, the court dismissed claims of negligence, fraud, unjust enrichment, and unlawful business practices made by the authors against OpenAI. However, Judge Martinez-Olguin allowed the claim that OpenAI’s conduct may constitute an unfair practice under California law to proceed.
Artists’ Lawsuits Against AI Developers
OpenAI is not alone in facing lawsuits for copyright infringement related to AI models. In October, a federal judge ruled against artists suing Midjourney and Deviant Art, stating that they had not provided enough evidence to support their claims. The judge found that the artists had not sufficiently alleged the involvement of DeviantArt in the creation of training images.
Hot Take: Judge Dismisses Majority of Allegations in OpenAI Lawsuit
A federal judge has dismissed most of the allegations brought against OpenAI by authors claiming copyright infringement. The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the claims of “vicarious copyright infringement” by OpenAI’s AI models. However, the claim that OpenAI trained its AI model on copyrighted material without permission was allowed to move forward. This ruling highlights the challenges of proving copyright infringement in relation to AI technology. It also emphasizes the importance of providing specific details and evidence in lawsuits against AI developers. While some claims were dismissed, the authors have the opportunity to amend and refile their claims if they wish.
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