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16 December 2024
Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) sued OpenAI before the Delhi High Court in November 2024 for copyright infringement – the first media outfit in the country to file a case against the artificial intelligence (AI) company for copyright issues.
ANI accused OpenAI of using its copyrighted articles without permission to train ChatGPT; OpenAI denied this accusation. The news organization also claimed its articles are permanently stored in Open AI’s database which may lead to recurring misuse of its exclusive rights.
“It has been taken on record in the order by the Honorable Delhi High Court that the counsel for Open AI submitted that Open AI blocklisted the domain ‘www.aninews.in’ in October 2024, and the works available on the said domain will be excluded from future training of Open AI’s software. While this sounds like a confession of the usage of ANI’s works by Open AI, it is highly presumed that Open AI will use the fair use defense for its usage,” said Gautam K.M., a partner at Krishnamurthy & Co in Mumbai.
According to him, the two important questions to ascertain Open AI’s position which the court considers as the key issues are: (i) Whether copyrighted material can be used and stored for training an AI software, and (ii) Whether the use of ANI’s works by Open AI falls within the exemptions under Section 52 of the Copyright Act.
“It is a matter of fact that the usage of ANI’s work has been used for Open AI’s commercial gains. In such a scenario, the defences of ‘fair use’ cannot be claimed, and Open AI’s use of ANI works and storing such works is a clear infringement of ANI’s copyright as per the Copyright Act, 1957. Consequently, ANI will reserve the right to pursue requisite remedies available to it, as the unauthorized usage by Open AI constitutes not only a statutory infringement but also a violation of the moral rights,” said Gautam.
During the November 12, 2024 hearing, the court said the case is complex and requires a detailed hearing.
“In times when technology upgrades every day, it is important to ensure that the technological advancement does not overlook the essence of the law,” Gautam stressed.
Mentioning the ongoing copyright infringement cases against Open AI, Stability AI and Google in various countries, he said it is a settled position that the works belong to the copyright owner
and cannot be used without permission of the right owner. “Given this position, a case like ANI Media Pvt. Ltd. v. Open AI Inc & Anr. can provide guidelines to navigate the challenges from an IP protection standpoint by regulating the use of IP by owners and/or creators of AI software and adding accountability and creating a sense of responsibility towards other creators and IP right owners,” Gautam added.
The next hearing is set for January 2025.
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
