Indian Music Labels Join Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI, Challenging AI Training Practices

T-Series, Saregama and Sony among other music labels seek to challenge OpenAI in copyright lawsuit

A group of India's top Bollywood music labels is seeking to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the improper use of recordings to train AI models. This adds to OpenAI's mounting legal challenges globally. Music labels argue that their unauthorized use of sound recordings breaches copyright.A group of India's top Bollywood music labels, from T-Series to Saregama and Sony, is seeking to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, highlighting worries about improper use of recordings to train AI models, legal documents show. Microsoft-backed OpenAI's legal challenges are mounting globally and in India, its second biggest market by users. But the company says it follows fair-use principles in employing publicly available data to build its AI models. On Thursday, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, T-Series and Saregama India asked a New Delhi court to hear concerns about "unauthorised use of sound recordings" in training AI models that breaches their copyright. The companies' contentions in the lawsuit "are crucial for the entire music industry in India, and even worldwide," they said in their filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters. OpenAI and the music labels did not respond to requests for comments on Friday. The music labels want to join a lawsuit launched last year by Indian news agency ANI that accused OpenAI's ChatGPT application of using its content without permission to train AI models. Since then, book publishers and media groups, some backed by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, have banded together to oppose the company in the New Delhi court. Bollywood and Hindi pop music are big business in India. T-Series is one of India's largest music record labels which releases about 2,000 sound records or songs annually, while Saregama, more than 100 years old, owns a repertoire of famed Indian singers such as Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. On its website, the IMI group says it also represents global names such as Sony Music and Warner Music. In India, the music labels are "concerned OpenAI and other AI systems can extract lyrics, music compositions and sound recordings from the internet," said an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is in court. The Indian companies' latest action comes after Germany's GEMA, which represents composers, lyricists and publishers, said in November it had sued OpenAI for ChatGPT's alleged unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics with which "the system has obviously been trained". OpenAI, which is grappling with new challenges from Chinese startup DeepSeek's breakthrough in cheap AI computing, opposed the ANI lawsuit on the grounds that Indian courts lack jurisdiction, as the company is U.S.-based, with servers abroad. The next hearing in the lawsuit, which is seen as shaping the future of how AI models use copyright content in India, is set for Feb. 21. OpenAI chief Sam Altman visited India last week, meeting the infotech minister, and discussing the country's plan to pursue low-cost AI.

Bollywood Music Labels Seek to Challenge OpenAI in India Copyright Lawsuit

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A group of India's top Bollywood music labels, from T-Series to Saregama and Sony, is seeking to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, highlighting worries about improper use of recordings to train AI models, legal documents show. Microsoft-backed OpenAI's legal challenges are mounting globally and in India, its second biggest market by users. But the company says it follows fair-use principles in employing publicly available data to build its AI models. On Thursday, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, T-Series and Saregama India asked a New Delhi court to hear concerns about "unauthorised use of sound recordings" in training AI models that breaches their copyright. The companies' contentions in the lawsuit "are crucial for the entire music industry in India, and even worldwide," they said in their filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters. OpenAI and the music labels did not respond to requests for comments on Friday. The music labels want to join a lawsuit launched last year by Indian news agency ANI that accused OpenAI's ChatGPT application of using its content without permission to train AI models. Since then, book publishers and media groups, some backed by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, have banded together to oppose the company in the New Delhi court. Bollywood and Hindi pop music are big business in India. T-Series is one of India's largest music record labels which releases about 2,000 sound records or songs annually, while Saregama, more than 100 years old, owns a repertoire of famed Indian singers such as Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. On its website, the IMI group says it also represents global names such as Sony Music and Warner Music. In India, the music labels are "concerned OpenAI and other AI systems can extract lyrics, music compositions and sound recordings from the internet," said an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is in court. The Indian companies' latest action comes after Germany's GEMA, which represents composers, lyricists and publishers, said in November it had sued OpenAI for ChatGPT's alleged unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics with which "the system has obviously been trained". OpenAI, which is grappling with new challenges from Chinese startup DeepSeek's breakthrough in cheap AI computing, opposed the ANI lawsuit on the grounds that Indian courts lack jurisdiction, as the company is U.S.-based, with servers abroad. The next hearing in the lawsuit, which is seen as shaping the future of how AI models use copyright content in India, is set for Feb. 21. OpenAI chief Sam Altman visited India last week, meeting the infotech minister, and discussing the country's plan to pursue low-cost AI. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Indian Music Labels T-Series, Saregama Seek to Join Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently visited India, meeting with the country's information technology minister to discuss India's plans for low-cost AI development. A group of India's leading Bollywood music labels, including T-Series, Saregama, and Sony, has sought to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi over concerns regarding the unauthorised use of sound recordings for AI training, according to a recent report by Reuters. The Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, along with T-Series and Saregama, approached a New Delhi court on Thursday, arguing that OpenAI's alleged use of their copyrighted sound recordings breaches intellectual property rights. The labels assert that the matter is significant for the music industry in India and globally. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, has faced increasing legal scrutiny worldwide. The company maintains that it adheres to fair-use principles in utilising publicly available data for AI model training. Neither OpenAI nor the music labels responded to requests for comment. The music labels aim to be part of a lawsuit filed last year by Indian news agency ANI, which accused OpenAI's ChatGPT of using its content without authorisation for AI training. Since then, book publishers and media organisations, some linked to billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, have joined the legal action against OpenAI in the New Delhi court. Bollywood and Hindi pop music represent a significant industry in India. T-Series, one of the largest music labels in the country, releases approximately 2,000 sound recordings or songs annually. Saregama, which has been in operation for over a century, has a catalogue featuring renowned Indian singers such as Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. According to its website, the IMI group also represents international labels like Sony Music and Warner Music. The report added that Indian music companies are concerned AI systems, including those developed by OpenAI, can extract lyrics, compositions, and sound recordings from the internet without proper authorisation. The legal move follows similar concerns raised globally. In November, Germany's GEMA, representing composers, lyricists, and publishers, sued OpenAI over ChatGPT's alleged unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics, arguing that the system had been trained using copyrighted content. OpenAI has opposed the ANI lawsuit, contending that Indian courts lack jurisdiction as the company is based in the United States with servers located abroad. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 21. The outcome is expected to influence the future use of copyrighted material in AI model training in India. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently visited India, meeting with the country's information technology minister to discuss India's plans for low-cost AI development.

Bollywood music labels seek to challenge OpenAI in India copyright lawsuit

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A group of India's top Bollywood music labels, from T-Series to Saregama and Sony, is seeking to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, highlighting worries about improper use of recordings to train AI models, legal documents show. Microsoft-backed OpenAI's legal challenges are mounting globally and in India, its second biggest market by users. But the company says it follows fair-use principles in employing publicly available data to build its AI models. On Thursday, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, T-Series and Saregama India asked a New Delhi court to hear concerns about "unauthorised use of sound recordings" in training AI models that breaches their copyright. The companies' contentions in the lawsuit "are crucial for the entire music industry in India, and even worldwide," they said in their filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters. OpenAI and the music labels did not respond to requests for comments on Friday. The music labels want to join a lawsuit launched last year by Indian news agency ANI that accused OpenAI's ChatGPT application of using its content without permission to train AI models. Since then, book publishers and media groups, some backed by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, have banded together to oppose the company in the New Delhi court. Bollywood and Hindi pop music are big business in India. T-Series is one of India's largest music record labels which releases about 2,000 sound records or songs annually, while Saregama, more than 100 years old, owns a repertoire of famed Indian singers such as Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. On its website, the IMI group says it also represents global names such as Sony Music and Warner Music. In India, the music labels are "concerned OpenAI and other AI systems can extract lyrics, music compositions and sound recordings from the internet," said an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is in court. The Indian companies' latest action comes after Germany's GEMA, which represents composers, lyricists and publishers, said in November it had sued OpenAI for ChatGPT's alleged unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics with which "the system has obviously been trained". OpenAI, which is grappling with new challenges from Chinese startup DeepSeek's breakthrough in cheap AI computing, opposed the ANI lawsuit on the grounds that Indian courts lack jurisdiction, as the company is U.S.-based, with servers abroad. The next hearing in the lawsuit, which is seen as shaping the future of how AI models use copyright content in India, is set for Feb. 21. OpenAI chief Sam Altman visited India last week, meeting the infotech minister, and discussing the country's plan to pursue low-cost AI. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Now, Indian Music Labels Seek To Join Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI

The music industry and labels are looking to join the ongoing lawsuit filed by news agency ANI against OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement A group of India's top Bollywood music labels like T-Series, Saregama, and Sony is reportedly looking to join an ongoing copyright lawsuit against ChatGPT developer OpenAI in the Delhi High Court. The music labels are concerned about improper use of recording to train artificial intelligence (AI) models, Reuters reported, citing legal documents The Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, T-Series and Saregama India asked the Delhi court to hear issues related to "unauthorised use of sound recordings" in training AI models which breaches their copyright. The IMI group counts the likes of Sony Music, Saregama India, Shri Balaji Enterprises, Universal Music India, Times Music among others as its members. The companies have said that their contentions "are crucial for the entire music industry in India, and even worldwide". The music industry and labels are looking to join the ongoing lawsuit filed by news agency ANI against OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement. While the lawsuit was filed last year, media outlets such as NDTV, Network18, The Indian Express and Hindustan Times told the court last month that they want to join the ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. Earlier this week, the AI giant told the Delhi High Court that it does not use the content of Indian media groups to train its AI chatbot ChatGPT. OpenAI urged the HC to dismiss infringement claims filed by the publishers. Further, OpenAI also told the HC that it is under no obligation to form partnerships with media outlets to use publicly available content. Earlier, the US-based company said that the Indian courts don't have the jurisdiction to hear ANI's plea as OpenAI does not have a presence in India. This comes as the adoption of AI is on the rise in the country. Last week, OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman met IT minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw during his India visit and said that the country is an "incredibly important" market for the AI giant.

T-Series, Saregama, Sony Seek to Join Copyright Suit Against OpenAI in India: Report

The lawsuit follows a similar case by Germany's GEMA, accusing OpenAI of using song lyrics without permission. India's leading Bollywood music labels, including T-Series, Saregama, and Sony Music, are seeking to join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, citing concerns about the improper use of recordings to train artificial intelligence (AI) models, according to legal documents reviewed by Reuters. Also Read: ANI Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Violation by ChatGPT: Report The lawsuit, originally filed by Indian news agency ANI, alleges that OpenAI has improperly used copyrighted content. Since then, book publishers and media groups have also challenged OpenAI in court. On Thursday, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) group, representing global players like Sony Music and Warner Music, T-Series and Saregama India asked a New Delhi court to hear concerns about "unauthorised use of sound recordings" in AI model training, which they claim breaches copyright laws, according to the report. On its website, the IMI Group says it also represents global brands, including Sony Music and Warner Music. The companies argue that their claims in the lawsuit are "crucial for the entire music industry in India, and even worldwide," according to their court filing, as cited in the report. Also Read: OpenAI's ChatGPT Service Only Disseminates Public Information: Report "In India, the music labels are "concerned OpenAI and other AI systems can extract lyrics, music compositions and sound recordings from the internet," the report quoted an industry source as saying. The Delhi High Court, after reviewing legal arguments, ruled it has jurisdiction over the case since ANI's headquarters are in New Delhi. The latest move by Indian companies follows a lawsuit filed by Germany's GEMA in November. Representing composers, lyricists, and publishers, GEMA accused OpenAI of unlawfully reproducing song lyrics, claiming that ChatGPT was "obviously trained" on them without proper licensing. Also Read: New York Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft in Copyright Clash Over AI Training: Report The case, set for its next hearing on February 21, could have far-reaching consequences for AI copyright laws in India. OpenAI is facing similar lawsuits globally, including from The New York Times and European publishers, as courts worldwide deliberate on whether AI training on copyrighted material constitutes infringement.