A major development unfolded in the legal battles surrounding artificial intelligence as a U.S. judicial panel ordered the consolidation of multiple copyright infringement lawsuits against OpenAI and its major investor, Microsoft. The decision brings together high-profile cases from both authors and media outlets in a single federal court in New York.
Lawsuits from Prominent Authors and News Outlets Combined
On Thursday, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that several copyright lawsuits—including those filed in California by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Sarah Silverman, and other writers—will now be centralized in Manhattan. These will join similar complaints already filed in New York by well-known authors such as George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jonathan Franzen, along with The New York Times.
The consolidated cases all claim that OpenAI and Microsoft unlawfully used copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence models, particularly large language models like ChatGPT.
OpenAI Pushed for California, Plaintiffs Disagreed
OpenAI had requested that the lawsuits be combined in Northern California, arguing that the cases involved the same fundamental accusation—that copyrighted material was used without permission to train their AI systems. However, the majority of plaintiffs opposed this move, insisting that their cases differed significantly in scope and context.
Despite OpenAI’s request, the panel concluded that centralizing the lawsuits in New York would better serve judicial efficiency and convenience for all parties involved. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein, who is already overseeing some of the related cases in New York, will now preside over the consolidated litigation.
Reactions from OpenAI and The New York Times
OpenAI responded positively to the decision. A company spokesperson stated, “We welcome this development and look forward to making it clear in court that our models are trained on publicly available data, grounded in fair use, and supportive of innovation.”
On the other hand, Steven Lieberman, an attorney for The New York Times, commented on the company’s determination to hold the defendants accountable. He emphasized their commitment to proving in court that OpenAI and Microsoft engaged in “widespread theft” of the Times’ content.
Microsoft declined to comment on the panel’s ruling, and legal representatives for the involved authors have not yet responded to the latest developments.
Legal Implications and the Role of Fair Use
This case is part of a broader wave of litigation targeting major tech companies—including Meta Platforms—for allegedly misusing copyrighted works to train AI systems. The core legal question revolves around the “fair use” doctrine under U.S. copyright law, which allows limited use of copyrighted materials without permission under specific circumstances.
Judges are only beginning to weigh whether fair use applies in this context. The outcome of these consolidated cases could set a precedent for how copyright law is interpreted in the era of artificial intelligence.
What Happens Next?
With the lawsuits now united under one jurisdiction, the pretrial process will move forward under Judge Stein’s supervision. As the legal battle intensifies, all eyes will be on how the courts address the balance between copyright protections and technological innovation in the AI age.
