{
  "id": 5702661,
  "title": "Seattle Times, Newsday sue OpenAI, Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/seattle-times-newsday-sue-openai-microsoft-alleging-copyright-5702661",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-05T03:06:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/seattle-times-newsday-sue-openai-microsoft-alleging-copyright-infringement-4890157"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On September 4, two prominent newspapers, The Seattle Times and Newsday, initiated legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft in a federal court in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleges that the tech giants unlawfully copied the newspapers' content without authorization to train their artificial intelligence systems.\n\nThe plaintiffs claim that OpenAI and Microsoft scoured the websites of the newspapers, including subscription-restricted articles, and incorporated the material into datasets utilized for training and running products like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Bing's AI functionalities. This action has raised concerns about the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in the development of AI technology.\n\nThe newspapers, hailing from Seattle and Long Island, New York, argue that the AI outputs from the tech companies can replicate segments of their reporting, closely paraphrase articles, and deliver answers to user queries that diminish the necessity to access their websites or purchase subscriptions. In a letter to employees, The Seattle Times' President and CEO, Alan Fisco, underscored the company's commitment to safeguarding its content, which incurs substantial annual production costs.\n\nOpenAI's representative in San Francisco responded, asserting that the company's models are trained on openly accessible data and adhere to principles of fair use. Microsoft, based in Washington state, expressed surprise at the lawsuit in an emailed statement, emphasizing its appreciation for local journalism and willingness to engage in discussions to resolve disputes of this nature.\n\nThe Seattle Times and Newsday are seeking a court order mandating the destruction of any copies of their works, as well as the datasets or AI models that contain their content. This legal battle echoes a similar case filed by The New York Times in 2023, which also accused OpenAI and Microsoft of utilizing millions of newspaper articles without permission to train their AI models. The ongoing lawsuit is just one of many brought by copyright holders against tech companies over alleged misuse of their material to train AI systems.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement.",
    "Allegations of unlawful copying of newspaper content to train AI systems.",
    "Seeking court order to destroy copies of their works and related datasets."
  ],
  "editors_take": "This lawsuit signals a new front in copyright holders' efforts to control use of their work in AI training, potentially limiting tech companies' access to free content and forcing new business arrangements.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNA - Business",
        "title": "Seattle Times, Newsday sue OpenAI, Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/seattle-times-newsday-sue-openai-microsoft-alleging-copyright",
        "published": "2026-09-05T03:00:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Investing.com",
        "title": "Seattle Times, Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft over AI training",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/seattle-times-newsday-sue-openai-and-microsoft-over-ai-training",
        "published": "2026-09-05T05:59:13.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}