USA Today Sues OpenAI for Copyright Infringement Over AI Training Data Worth Hundreds of Millions

USA Today Co Files Major Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI

USA Today Co., along with several local newspapers under its ownership, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, alleging copyright infringement over the unauthorized use of hundreds of thousands of copyrighted articles to train its AI models1

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. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York under case number 1:26-cv-08892, seeks damages exceeding $250 million and demands an injunction to halt the alleged infringement2

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. The complaint asserts that OpenAI's unauthorized use of its content "has done real and continuing" harm to its outlets1

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OpenAI Accused of Building Billion-Dollar Business on Journalism

The lawsuit claims that "OpenAI's commercial success rests on large-scale copyright infringement," alleging the company never requested permission to use USA Today Co.'s content but instead "took" it to "build products worth hundreds of billions of dollars"1

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. The Tennessean, Indy Star, The Columbus Dispatch, The Oklahoman, and several other local outlets owned by USA Today Co. are included in the legal action against OpenAI1

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. USA Today Co. is represented by Steven Lieberman of Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck, while attorney information for OpenAI was not yet available at the time of filing2

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Growing Wave of Legal Action Against OpenAI

This lawsuit marks the latest in an expanding series of copyright lawsuits targeting OpenAI over its AI training practices. The company already faces legal action against OpenAI from The New York Times, The Intercept, CNET owner Ziff Davis, CBC/Radio-Canada, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster, The Seattle Times, and a coalition of nearly 400 local newspapers1

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. Publishers argue that journalism represents intellectual property requiring permission for commercial use, even when articles are accessible online3

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. News organizations invest substantial resources in original reporting through information gathering, source interviews, and document examination to produce their content3

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Fair Use Defense and ChatGPT Training Data Questions

The lawsuit raises critical questions about whether training ChatGPT on copyrighted material qualifies as fair use under US copyright law. AI firms engaged in copyright litigation have argued that using existing copyrighted materials to train large language models constitutes fair use, since machines learn from data patterns and produce new output3

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. Publishers dispute this argument, maintaining that widespread use of their work for AI development should not be deemed legal without permission3

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. Courts must evaluate fair use based on the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the extent of material used, and its effect on the market value of the original content3

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Implications for Publishers and AI Industry

The dispute highlights a fundamental question facing the media industry: should publishers receive compensation when AI systems use their journalism to build commercial products? Traditional journalism depends on generating revenue, and publishers argue that if news copyright helps companies develop AI products worth billions, they deserve payment for providing that material3

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. The court will need to examine what material OpenAI used, how it obtained it, and how it was deployed to train its AI models3

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. Just because a news article is available online does not automatically grant permission for copying or commercial use3

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. The court's decision could reshape how AI companies collect and use news articles, potentially establishing precedents that influence the entire AI industry's approach to training data. OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit1

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