Cate Blanchett-backed group and Hollywood firms filed amicus brief in NYT copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft
The Human Consent Foundation, a nonprofit backed by Cate Blanchett, joined by CAA and other creative groups, filed a 31-page amicus brief in the Southern District of New York in The New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The brief disputes the defendants' argument that licensing creative works for AI training is cost-prohibitive, pointing to an existing licensing market. The Times sued in December 2023, alleging that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, violated its copyright by scraping thousands of news articles without permission. OpenAI maintains its scraping was protected fair use. The Times has filed for summary judgment, and no ruling has been reported.
What the AI did
The New York Times alleges that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, violated its copyright by scraping thousands of its news articles without permission. Scraping means copying content automatically from websites. The defendants have argued that licensing creative works for AI training is cost-prohibitive. OpenAI says its scraping was protected fair use. No ruling has been reported.
First reported October 31, 2026 · Added to the register November 8, 2026 · 1 source
- Developer
- OpenAI
- Model
- ChatGPT
- Affected
- The New York Times
- When it happened
- December 2023
- First reported
- October 31, 2026
What this means for you
Could this affect you?
If you own creative works or build or buy AI models. Publishers, writers, performers and other rights holders whose works may have been used to train AI without a licence are exposed, as are businesses that build or use models trained on scraped content.
What to check
- Track how the court rules on the fair-use question in this case.
- Review where the training data came from for AI systems you build or buy.
- Check how that training data was licensed.
- Consider licensing or consent arrangements for creative content.
Areas of your AI programme this touches
Timeline
- December 2023Happened
- October 31, 2026First reported
Every fact and its source (7)
- Co-filers of the amicus briefCAA, Music Artists Coalition, National Association of Voice Actors, Writer, Inc, Creative Coalition on AI“the group was joined by CAA, the Music Artists Coalition, the National Association of Voice Actors, Writer, Inc, and the Creative Coalition on AI”[1]
- Union brief against defendantsSAG-AFTRA, WGA and AFM filed their own brief“SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America and the American Federation of Musicians filed their own brief against OpenAI and Microsoft”[1]
- Case statusThe Times filed for summary judgment“The Times filed for summary judgment in the case last month.”[1]
- OpenAI responseOpenAI says fair use benefits everyone“Experts and leaders across a wide range of fields have recognized that fair use is a win-win that benefits everyone”[1]
- Co-defendant and OpenAI backerMicrosoft“The New York Times filed its lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft”[1]
- Alleged conductScraping thousands of news articles without permission“scraping thousands of news articles without permission”[1]
- Amicus brief filing31-page brief filed in the Southern District of New York“31-page brief was filed in the Southern District of New York late Friday”[1]
Sources
- Cate Blanchett-Backed Group of Stars Files Brief in NYT-OpenAI Lawsuitvariety.com · October 31, 2026
How this record is classified. Severity N: a legal action or test finding, not a harm. Evidence: Alleged, meaning one party's claim.
The facts in At a glance and in Every fact and its source are quoted from the sources listed. The summary, What the AI did and What this means for you are written from those sources and checked against them automatically before publication. Records reflect what has been disclosed, not everything that has happened. Incidents are found through news feeds and the GDELT Project.
