Background
Putative class action brought by The Authors Guild and a group of authors against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorised use of literary works to train large language models. Plaintiffs seek damages and injunctive relief under the U.S. Copyright Act. The court denied motions by California plaintiffs to intervene and transfer the case, confirming that the New York proceedings would continue independently. The case later became part of a consolidated multidistrict proceeding, but no final judgment has been issued.
AI interaction
The court noted that the purpose of this action is “to hold OpenAI accountable for allegedly infringing copyrighted works in training its LLMs.” It also recognised that “ChatGPT uses Large Language Models (LLMs),” thereby acknowledging the technological context underlying the claims. This framing confirms that the dispute directly concerns how AI language models reproduce and process copyrighted material, marking one of the earliest judicial articulations of LLM training as a potential site of infringement within U.S. copyright law.
Note: The Opinion and Order denied intervention by California plaintiffs, confirming that the New York court would retain jurisdiction over claims involving AI model training. In April 2025, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated related actions into In re OpenAI, Inc., Copyright Infringement Litigation (MDL No. 3143) for coordinated pre-trial proceedings.