OpenAI copyright case draws 51 amicus briefs as publishers back authors

Publisher groups, creators and academics have filed in the consolidated US case ahead of a fair use ruling on AI training.

The consolidated US copyright case against OpenAI has drawn 51 amicus briefs, filed by the 30 October deadline as the court weighs whether training AI models on books and news is fair use.

In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement Litigation, overseen by Judge Sidney H. Stein, combines more than a dozen lawsuits, including cases brought by the Authors Guild and the New York Times. Both sides filed cross-motions for summary judgment in October.

Twenty-six briefs support the plaintiffs, among them a filing from the Association of American Publishers with CCC, IBPA and STM, plus briefs from the Copyright Alliance, PEN America and filmmaker Ken Burns. Eighteen back OpenAI, including the Authors Alliance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. Others, such as the Wikimedia Foundation, are neutral.

The plaintiffs argue that copying works for training, including from pirated sources, is infringement and that a fair use finding would undercut licensing markets. The defence says training copies are fair use. On 4 September the US Department of Justice filed a statement urging a fair use finding, which members of Congress criticised as too broad.

Final briefs are due on 6 November 2026, with oral argument to be scheduled after that.