After ANI, Indian book publishers sue OpenAI over copyright concerns with ChatGPT: Report

Indian book publishers and their international counterparts have filed a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, accusing the company of using proprietary content to train its ChatGPT chatbot, a representative for the group said Friday (January 24).

The Federation of Indian Publishers, which includes members such as Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, Cambridge University Press, Pan Macmillan, Rupa Publications, and S. Chand and Co., said the case was filed in December at the Delhi High Court, Reuters reported.

The court is already hearing a similar lawsuit filed by Indian news agency ANI against OpenAI.

Pranav Gupta, the federation’s general secretary, said the lawsuit aims to stop OpenAI from accessing copyrighted material without permission and seeks compensation for its use.

“Our ask from the court is that they should stop (OpenAI from) accessing our copyright content,” Gupta said in an interview. “In case they don’t want to do licensing with us, they should delete datasets used in AI training and explain how we will be compensated. This impacts creativity.”

AI and copyright battles

The lawsuit adds to a growing number of global legal challenges against tech firms accused of using copyrighted content to train generative AI systems. Courts worldwide are hearing cases brought by authors, musicians, and news outlets seeking to protect their intellectual property.

OpenAI, backed by Microsoft and known for igniting interest in generative AI with the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, has denied allegations of copyright infringement, stating its systems make fair use of publicly available data. It did not respond to requests for comment on the Indian lawsuit, which is being reported for the first time.

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The federation’s filing argues that ChatGPT’s book summaries harm the publishing industry. A Reuters reporter demonstrated that ChatGPT could generate detailed chapter-by-chapter summaries of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone but did not provide actual text, citing copyright restrictions.

“This free tool produces book summaries, extracts, why would people buy books then?” Gupta said. “This will impact our sales, and all our members are concerned.”

Legal and industry implications

OpenAI has argued that any court order to delete training data could violate its legal obligations in the US and that Indian courts lack jurisdiction because its servers are located abroad. However, the federation counters that OpenAI’s operations in India fall under local laws.

Penguin Random House has already taken steps globally to protect its content, adding warnings in its books that prohibit using any part of them for AI training.

The Delhi High Court registrar has asked OpenAI to respond to the federation’s plea, and a judge is set to hear the case on January 28.

OpenAI has made significant inroads in India, hiring former WhatsApp executive Pragya Misra in 2023 to oversee public policy and partnerships in the country. India, with its population of 1.4 billion and rapidly growing internet user base, represents a crucial market for tech firms.

With inputs from Reuters