Authors Including Creator of ‘Game of Thrones’ File Legal Action Against OpenAI for Copyright Violations

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George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jodi Picoult are among a group of 17 writers who have initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of “widespread and willful infringement” of copyrighted material. This is the latest episode in a series of legal confrontations in which authors express growing concern over the unauthorized use of their copyrighted works by artificial intelligence software.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a New York federal court, claims “overt and damaging breaches of the plaintiffs’ officially registered copyrights” and characterizes the ChatGPT program as a “large-scale commercial operation” dependent on “systematic, large-scale copyright violations.” The legal action is coordinated by the Authors Guild and involves other prominent authors such as David Baldacci, Sylvia Day, Jonathan Franzen, and Elin Hilderbrand.

Mary Rasenberger, the CEO of the Authors Guild, stressed the urgency of halting these practices, stating, “If not curtailed, this widespread appropriation threatens to dismantle our rich literary tradition, a cornerstone of various other creative sectors in the United States.” She emphasized that quality literature is generally the output of authors who dedicate their lives and careers to honing their skills. “For the survival of our literary heritage, it is crucial that authors retain the capacity to govern how and when their work is utilized by generative AI technologies,” she added.

The lawsuit identifies explicit instances where ChatGPT is alleged to have infringed upon each author’s works. For instance, it accuses the program of generating “an unauthorized, detailed precursor plot” for George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones,” which was labeled “A Dawn of Direwolves” and featured characters from Martin’s existing “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.

In a statement released on Wednesday, a spokesperson for OpenAI declared the company’s respect for “the intellectual property rights of writers and authors, acknowledging their right to gain from AI technology.” The statement further disclosed ongoing dialogues with a variety of creators, including the Authors Guild, in a cooperative effort to comprehend and address their concerns. “We are hopeful that collaborative avenues that benefit both parties will continue to emerge within this rapidly evolving technological landscape,” the statement noted.

Earlier this month, authors Michael Chabon and David Henry Hwang were among those who filed a similar lawsuit against OpenAI in San Francisco, alleging “unambiguous infringement of intellectual property.” In August, OpenAI had petitioned a California federal judge to dismiss two analogous lawsuits, one involving comedian Sarah Silverman and the other from writer Paul Tremblay. OpenAI’s legal submission argued that the complaints “misinterpret the breadth of copyright law, neglecting to consider the constraints and allowances, such as fair use, that rightfully make room for advancements like the current leading-edge language models in AI.”

These unfolding legal conflicts have influenced Amazon.com, the nation’s foremost book seller, to revise its e-book policies. Amazon now requires authors wishing to publish via its Kindle Direct Program to inform the platform if they are incorporating AI-generated content. Furthermore, Amazon has capped the number of new self-published books that an author can release on Kindle Direct to three per day, aiming to curb the surge of AI-generated texts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Copyright Infringement

More about Copyright Infringement

• Copyright Law Overview
• OpenAI’s Official Statement on the Lawsuit
• Authors Guild’s Position on AI and Copyright
• Previous Lawsuits Against OpenAI
• Amazon’s Updated Policies on AI-Generated Content
• U.S. Literary Culture and its Importance