Wikimedia Joins Newyork Times vs OpenAI Copyright Case

The newspaper alleges that AI companies used millions of articles to train artificial intelligence models without authorization. The complaint argues that these tools reproduce copyrighted content verbatim. This practice threatens the publication's subscription and advertising revenue. The case is currently a multi-district litigation in the summary judgment phase. Judge Sidney Stein oversees the proceedings in the Southern District of New York. These filings address the first major questions regarding fair use and artificial intelligence training in the US.

1. The Wikimedia Foundation argues that training large language models on copyrighted content qualifies as fair use when the resulting models are transformative. The organization submitted this position in an amicus brief to the Southern District Court of New York on October 30, 2026.

2. The foundation asserts that Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems that provide content to users require a license. Wikipedia content is governed by a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. This license mandates attribution for all uses. It also requires that any adaptations remain under the same license terms.

3. Wikimedia filed a brief in the litigation on October 30, 2026. The foundation warned that a legal victory for publishers lacking nuance might allow copyright holders to restrict transformative uses of their work.

4. Microsoft stated in a September 2026 filing that expert analysis shows its Copilot tool rarely reproduces full sentences from news content. OpenAI describes the regurgitation of copyrighted work by its models as a rare bug.

1. The News/Media Alliance contends that AI systems use news content as a substitute for original reporting. The group states this practice does not qualify as fair use. The organization filed an amicus brief on October 30, 2026, in the multi-district litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft.

2. The News/Media Alliance filed an amicus brief on October 30, 2026. The document states that ChatGPT sends 96% less referral traffic to publishers than traditional Google search.

3. The News/Media Alliance's amicus brief was co-signed by the National Newspaper Association, the National Press Photographers Association, and ProPublica. These groups joined the filing on October 30, 2026, to support the litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft.

4. Judge Stein is overseeing the summary judgment phase for lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft in the Southern District of New York. A US court is addressing questions of infringement and fair use regarding AI training and real-time content usage for the first time.