Comedian Sarah Silverman, along with two other authors, is suing OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, alleging copyright infringement. According to court documents obtained by Insider, the plaintiffs claim that ChatGPT produces summaries of their works without their consent, constituting copyright infringement. ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that generates natural responses by drawing on vast amounts of information from various sources, including books.
The lawsuit argues that OpenAI benefits financially from the copyrighted works of the authors, including Silverman's memoir "The Bedwetter," Christopher Golden's supernatural thriller "Ararat," and Richard Kadrey's dark fantasy "Sandman Slim." The plaintiffs are seeking statutory and other damages, and have requested a jury trial.
While the specific books used in ChatGPT's datasets have not been disclosed by OpenAI, the court documents suggest that some may come from "shadow library" websites that illegally aggregate content. This raises concerns about the accessibility and use of copyrighted material without proper permission.
OpenAI has not yet responded to Insider's request for comment on the lawsuit.
This case, according to legal experts, may set a precedent for future lawsuits involving copyright law and generative AI. The Authors Guild, an advocacy group supporting writers' rights, has also called on Big Tech and AI companies to obtain permission from authors and fairly compensate them for the use of their copyrighted work in training generative AI programs.
As this legal battle unfolds, it will be interesting to see how the court addresses the issues of copyright infringement in the context of AI technology. The outcome of this case could have implications for the future development and regulation of generative AI and its use of copyrighted material.