Active Last verified: Apr 25, 2026

Authors Guild v. OpenAI Inc.

The Authors Guild and 17 fiction authors sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming they copied the authors' copyrighted books without permission to train large language models like ChatGPT.[1][3][6] The case alleges direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 in the Southern District of New York (1:23-cv-08292, filed September 19, 2023), with a December 2023 class action complaint on behalf of fiction writers; Judge Sidney H. Stein denied motions to dismiss output claims, allowed shadow library downloading claims, but struck allegations on certain new models (opinions October 27, 2025, and later).[3][4][5][8] Plaintiffs seek damages for lost licensing opportunities, a permanent injunction, and represent over 14,000 Authors Guild members in a case testing fair

🏛️ SDNY· Case No. 1:23-cv-08292· Filed Sep 19, 2023

Summary

The Authors Guild and 17 fiction authors sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming they copied the authors' copyrighted books without permission to train large language models like ChatGPT.[1][3][6] The case alleges direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 in the Southern District of New York (1:23-cv-08292, filed September 19, 2023), with a December 2023 class action complaint on behalf of fiction writers; Judge Sidney H. Stein denied motions to dismiss output claims, allowed shadow library downloading claims, but struck allegations on certain new models (opinions October 27, 2025, and later).[3][4][5][8] Plaintiffs seek damages for lost licensing opportunities, a permanent injunction, and represent over 14,000 Authors Guild members in a case testing fair

Case details

Court
SDNY
Docket number
1:23-cv-08292
Filed
Sep 19, 2023
Status
Active

This case was added to AI Lawsuit Tracker via our automated docket monitoring. Multiple verification gates and an LLM relevance check confirmed it as AI/ML-related before publishing. How we keep it accurate →

Spotted an error? corrections@ailawsuittracker.com

More cases against OpenAI

See all →
Brunell v. OpenAI, LLC
D. Vt. ·Filed Apr 17, 2026
Active
Starr v. OpenAI Group PBC
SDNY ·Filed Apr 15, 2026
Active
Ted Entertainment, Inc. v. OpenAI Inc.
NDCA ·Filed Apr 3, 2026
Active
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. v. OpenAI, Inc.
SDNY ·Filed Mar 13, 2026
Active