Indian News Agency Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Violations

One of India’s largest news agencies, Asian News International (ANI), has filed a lawsuit against an American artificial intelligence company, OpenAI, for alleged unauthorised and storage of its copyrighted content to train the company’s Large Language Models (LLMs).

The lawsuit marks the first of its kind against OpenAI in India, highlighting the increasing scrutiny of artificial intelligence technologies and their compliance with local copyright laws.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the case was presented in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

Represented by lawyer Sidhant Kumar, ANI is seeking initial damages of 20 million rupees ($236,910).

The agency also claimed that OpenAI used its data to enhance the training of its LLMs.

OpenAI’s lawyer, Amit Sibal, argued that the lawsuit lacked jurisdiction since OpenAI does not operate servers or conduct model training in India.

Silbal also informed the court that ANI’s content is currently blocked on OpenAI’s platform, asserting that this undermines ANI’s claims.

He disclosed that OpenAI was facing similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions, including 13 cases in the United States and one in Germany.

However, Silbal clarified that no injunctions have been issued against OpenAI globally.

The Delhi High Court admitted the case, emphasising the complexities surrounding LLM training and intellectual property.

The court acknowledged the need for expert assistance in addressing the issues and scheduled the next hearing for January 28, 2025.