OTTAWA — A coalition of Canadian news publishers, including The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of using copyrighted news content without permission to train its ChatGPT generative AI system.

In a joint statement issued Friday, the publishers alleged that OpenAI has routinely violated copyright laws by scraping large volumes of content from Canadian media.

“OpenAI is capitalizing and profiting from the use of this content, without getting permission or compensating content owners,” the statement read, emphasizing that such practices undermine significant investments in journalism.

The coalition stressed its openness to technological innovation but underscored the need for adherence to copyright laws and equitable terms for intellectual property usage.

“News media companies welcome technological innovations. However, all participants must follow the law, and any use of intellectual property must be on fair terms,” the statement added.

Generative AI systems, like ChatGPT, rely on vast amounts of existing content to generate text, images, and code based on user prompts.

However, concerns over how these systems access and use copyrighted material have sparked a wave of legal challenges globally.

In response, OpenAI stated that its models are trained on publicly available data and are “grounded in fair use and related international copyright principles that are fair for creators and support innovation.”

The company highlighted its collaboration with news publishers, including options for outlets to opt out of such usage if they choose.

This lawsuit is the first of its kind in Canada but mirrors ongoing legal battles in the United States, where the New York Times has filed a similar case against OpenAI and Microsoft.

While some organizations have opted for litigation, others have chosen to collaborate, entering licensing agreements with OpenAI for compensation. These include notable names like The Associated Press, News Corp., The Atlantic, and France’s Le Monde.

The lawsuit also adds to broader tensions surrounding Canada’s Online News Act, which mandates platforms like Google and Meta to compensate news publishers for content usage. While Meta pulled news from its Canadian platforms in protest, Google agreed to pay CA$100 million (US$71 million) to Canadian news outlets. However, the government has yet to clarify whether the act applies to AI systems like ChatGPT. — Agencies