Delhi High Court summons OpenAI in ANI copyright infringement case

Asian News International (ANI) dragged US-based OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to court alleging the company reproduced the news agency’s content without permission and wrongly attributed a political interview to the publication.

This is first such litigation in India where a news organization took OpenAI to the court over alleged copyright violation.

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to OpenAI, ordering it to give a detailed response to ANI’s allegations.

The high court, however, refused ANI’s request for an immediate injunction, stating the complexity of the case.

The matter will be heard again on 28 January.

ANI joins other global news organizations that have taken OpenAI to court.

The company has 13 lawsuits against its name in the US, two in Canada and one in Germany in the past two years. However, no injunctions were issued against OpenAI in these cases.

Arguments by ANI and OpenAI

Representing ANI, advocate Sidhant Kumar Marwah told the high court that publicly available news did not mean it can be stored or copied. Moreover, he argued that OpenAI potentially damages ANI’s credibility and reputation by reproducing its content.

“This service falsely attributes content to me (ANI),” Marwah argued. “For instance, it claims Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, gave an interview to ANI when no such interview occurred. This not only violates my private rights but also spreads fake news,” he said.

Responding to ANI’s allegations, senior advocate Amit Sibal said there is no “monopoly on facts” and copyright protects expression and not facts. He argued that ANI has no cause of action in India and its case lacks ground. He pointed out that OpenAI does not have servers in India does not reproduce ANI’s material within India.

“There is no instance in this suit where any reproduction of ANI’s material has been shown,” Sibal said, according to Times Now.

The senior advocate further explained the operational complexities of ChatGPT, saying that OpenAI did not access databases directly to answer queries but learns from the data it processes. “The matter is complex. It has never been addressed by any court in India,” he reportedly said.

ANI vs Wikimedia Foundation

This is not the first time that ANI has taken legal action against a company.

This July, ANI filed a defamation lawsuit against Wikimedia Foundation for allegedly “allowing misleading, negative, and defamatory” edits on Wikipedia.

The news agency, which sought Rs2 crore in damages, took objection to Wikipedia’s description of ANI. It stated that the news agency “accused of having served as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites, and misreporting events on multiple occasions”.

In response, the Delhi High Court issued a series of orders, including one in this August that required Wikipedia to disclose the details of the editors – a move that sparked free speech concerns in India.

However, Wikipedia did not comply to the order, which led to further hearings and threats of contempt charges. The court also warned that it could request the Indian government to block Wikipedia if the issue was not resolved.

ANI vs Netflix

In September, ANI lodged a legal case against Netflix over the streaming platform’s IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack series. ANI alleged that Netflix used the news agency’s copyrighted archival footage without permission and misused its trademark in the series.

The news agency is asking for the removal of the four episodes in which its footage is aired. Meanwhile, the show’s producers maintained that they obtained the footage legally from two companies and made payments for its use.

The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear the case and is awaiting Netflix’s response.