Authors are suing ChatGPT-creator OpenAI after the company allegedly trained its record-breaking large language model using their books without permission.
John Grisham was among the 17 writers to file the class-action lawsuit in New York, with the case ultimately being organised by the Authors Guild.
“The success and profitability of OpenAI are predicated on mass copyright infringement without a word of permission from or a nickel of compensation to copyright owners,” the trade group said.
“The complaint draws attention to the fact that the plaintiffs’ books were downloaded from pirate ebook repositories and then copied into the fabric of GPT 3.5 and GPT 4.”
We have organized a lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright infringement of their works of fiction on behalf of a class of authors whose works have been used to train GPT. Plaintiffs incl John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Victor LaValle, George R.R. Martin & more.https://t.co/1laaRbRCyC
— The Authors Guild (@AuthorsGuild) September 20, 2023
Arguing that language models were already being used to “mimic” authors’ work, the trade body added the case marked the beginning of its “battle to defend authors from theft”.
The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence since ChatGPT’s release late last year has prompted growing concern from the likes of music artists and authors over copyright.
British ministers wrote to the UK’s creative sector last month to gauge how the likes of artists were being affected by the growing use of AI to produce work.
Google and Universal Music have reportedly held talks over licensing artists’ voices.
“If you’re going to train things in the future on my books, you need to license them. You can’t just take things,” author Mary Bly added.