A consortium of Canada's foremost media entities has initiated a legal challenge against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, on the grounds of copyright infringement, asserting that the artificial intelligence has unlawfully utilized their content without permission. The groups involved in the suit include significant players such as the Globe and Mail, the CBC, and the Toronto Star, all of whom allege that their articles were improperly scraped to develop OpenAI’s public-facing chatbot.
The lawsuit was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, representing a historic moment as it's the first of its nature in Canada. It parallels a similar case from 2023 in the United States, where The New York Times accused OpenAI and Microsoft of copyright violations related to AI-generated content.
While OpenAI has yet to thoroughly review the allegations, a spokesperson stated that their methodologies rely on “publicly available data” and are designed within the boundaries of fair use and international copyright regulations. As the Canadian news outlets seek damages potentially amounting to billions of dollars—including $14,700 for each article claimed to have been used—they are also demanding a portion of any profits generated from what they believe to be unlawful use of their material. With this suit, major Canadian media companies hope to establish more robust protections for their content in an evolving digital landscape overtaken by AI technologies.
