Active Last verified: Apr 25, 2026

Alter v. OpenAI Inc.

Jonathan Alter and other authors allege that OpenAI and Microsoft copied and data-mined their copyrighted nonfiction books without consent or compensation to train their AI language models.[2][6] The plaintiffs assert copyright infringement claims under 17 U.S.C. §501 for direct, vicarious, and contributory copyright infringement.[5] The case is consolidated with other copyright actions against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York, and a federal court denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss the direct infringement claims in April 2025, allowing the case to proceed to discovery.[3] The litigation is part of a broader multi-district proceeding involving multiple plaintiffs, including the New York Times, seeking damages for unauthorized use of copyrighted works in AI model training.[7][8]

🏛️ SDNY· Case No. 1:23-cv-10211· Filed Nov 21, 2023

Summary

Jonathan Alter and other authors allege that OpenAI and Microsoft copied and data-mined their copyrighted nonfiction books without consent or compensation to train their AI language models.[2][6] The plaintiffs assert copyright infringement claims under 17 U.S.C. §501 for direct, vicarious, and contributory copyright infringement.[5] The case is consolidated with other copyright actions against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York, and a federal court denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss the direct infringement claims in April 2025, allowing the case to proceed to discovery.[3] The litigation is part of a broader multi-district proceeding involving multiple plaintiffs, including the New York Times, seeking damages for unauthorized use of copyrighted works in AI model training.[7][8]

Case details

Court
SDNY
Docket number
1:23-cv-10211
Filed
Nov 21, 2023
Status
Active

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