"AI Illegally Uses My Novel"... ChatGPT Already Facing Numerous Lawsuits

OpenAI Sued for Copyright Law Violation Allegations

Lawsuits alleging copyright infringement are mounting around 'ChatGPT,' the generative artificial intelligence (AI) that has sparked a global AI craze. Generative AIs like ChatGPT randomly use publicly available online texts, leading to issues such as copyright violations and personal data leaks.

According to major foreign media on the 5th (local time), two novelists in North America have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, claiming that ChatGPT used their works without permission. The plaintiffs are Paul Tremblay, an American novelist well known for his work The Cabin at the End of the World, and Mona Awad, a Canadian novelist who authored Bunny and 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl.

In a complaint submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, they stated, "OpenAI's training data is based on copyrighted materials, including novels we have published," and argued that "unauthorized use of our publications constitutes copyright infringement."

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Similar lawsuits related to unauthorized AI use have been continuing recently. On the 28th of last month, the U.S. law firm Clarkson filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that OpenAI infringed on copyrights and internet users' privacy while training its AI.

The lawsuit claims that OpenAI trained its AI using information scraped from the internet, thereby violating copyrights and personal privacy. The law firm pointed out, "The many authors of online content did not consent to OpenAI using their information for its own benefit."

Worldwide, regulatory efforts to address AI-related harms such as copyright infringement and privacy violations are rapidly progressing. The U.S. Congress has begun discussions on AI policy based on four principles: security, accountability, foundations (democratic basis), and explainability. These four principles, unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, focus on national security, copyright protection, democratic values, and the use of simple language when generating responses.

The European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union (EU), passed the world's first comprehensive AI regulation on the 14th of last month. This regulation includes a complete ban on remote biometric recognition technologies such as facial recognition using AI.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.