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Copyright case · United States (federal)

News publishers challenge Microsoft and OpenAI's use of journalism for AI

The New York Times v. Microsoft and OpenAI

News-publisher plaintiffs led by The New York Times are suing Microsoft and OpenAI over alleged unauthorized copying of journalism for AI training and answer generation, including paywalled material. The publishers’ summary-judgment motion was unsealed, revealing their descriptions of internal company discussions about copying and market harm. The underlying exhibits remain sealed, and the reported materials do not establish a ruling on infringement or fair use.

  • Ruling issued
  • Filed

Updated

Parties and court

Plaintiff
The New York Times
Defendants
Microsoft, OpenAI
Jurisdiction
United States (federal)

What’s at stake

  • Whether using journalism without permission for AI training and answers infringes copyright or qualifies as fair use.
  • Alleged scraping and use of material behind The New York Times paywall.
  • Publishers’ claims that AI-generated answers reduce referral traffic and undermine revenue.
  • Licensing as an alternative to contested uses of publishers’ reporting.

Timeline

  1. Microsoft submitted summary-judgment filings citing analyses of Copilot conversations and book-related responses to argue that limited textual overlap supports its transformative-use and lack-of-substitution defenses.

    Source: Our story (2026-09-05)

  2. The U.S. Justice Department recently supported OpenAI’s position that large-language-model training can qualify as fair use; the article also notes a prior ruling allowing key copyright claims to proceed while dismissing or narrowing other claims.

    Sources: Our story (2026-09-07), AP News, AP News

  3. The publishers’ summary-judgment motion was unsealed, making public their characterizations of internal Microsoft and OpenAI material concerning news copying and market harm; the cited exhibits remain sealed.

Our reporting

Unsealed Filings Reveal Internal Microsoft and OpenAI Concerns Over AI’s Effect on News Publishers →The Signal · September 18, 2026

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