Sue OpenAI for copyright infringement

Several authors are suing Californian start-up OpenAI for copyright infringement.

Battle of the giants – Several prominent American authors, including John Grisham and “Game of Thrones” author George RR Martin, have sued ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

In the video: The EU Parliament decides the rules and restrictions on the use of AI

Copyright infringement?

The reason behind a class-action lawsuit by dozens of writers against Californian start-up OpenAI — filed by the Authors Guild of America and other authors in federal court in New York on Tuesday (Sept. 12) — is copyright infringement. “Tagesschau”.

Although the authors’ books were protected by copyright, they were used “to train artificial intelligence without their permission.”

Additionally, the “heart” of the large language models trained by ChatGPT is based on “massive systematic plagiarism,” the “Tagesschau” reports, citing parts of the case.

These language models threaten the livelihood of writers because they allow everyone to create texts automatically and for free (or very cheaply), otherwise they would have to pay authors.” With the help of ChatGPT, content is created that follows the style of the writers, and it continues.

Claims of petitioners

It is therefore imperative to put an end to “this theft,” “Spiegel” quotes Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild. “Authors should have the opportunity to control whether and how their work is used by the creative AI,” he explains.

On Wednesday (September 20), OpenAI announced that it respects the rights of writers and authors. Nevertheless, the start-up, which is co-funded by Microsoft, believes that they too should benefit from AI technology.

“There are already creative discussions with creators around the world, including the Authors’ Guild,” writes the “Tagesschau”. Working to “understand and discuss concerns about artificial intelligence”.

On the other hand, the plaintiffs are now demanding that their copyrighted books not be used to develop algorithms for the AI ​​technology that creates them — unless “express permission” is given. Further, the alleged injured parties have demanded compensation.

This is how ChatGPT “learns”.

OpenAI provided a language model for ChatGPT with texts available online. However, OpenAI has not yet disclosed which websites and fonts were used for this.

In early September, another group of authors sued OpenAI for “clear infringement of intellectual property.” “Spiegel” adds. The currently filed lawsuit represents 13,000 members of the Authors Guild, adds “Tagesspiegel”.