News outlets urge court to give little weight to DOJ support for OpenAI in copyright fight

A group of news organizations suing OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement fired back at the Department of Justice this week, telling a Manhattan federal court that the government’s recent backing of the AI company should carry minimal influence in the case. The publishers’ response, filed around September 21-23, targets a DOJ Statement of Interest submitted on September 1 that sided with OpenAI on a question that could reshape the media industry: whether training large language models on copyrighted content qualifies as fair use. The DOJ’s uninvited opinion The DOJ’s filing argued that LLM training on copyrighted works is transformative in nature and serves the public interest, a position that aligns with the Trump administration’s broader push to keep the US competitive in the global AI race. The plaintiffs contend the DOJ’s brief is a policy statement dressed up as legal analysis. A Statement of Interest, unlike an amicus brief from a party with standing, doesn’t carry binding authority. The news outlets want Judge Sidney H. Stein to treat it as exactly that. The timing also raised eyebrows among the plaintiff coalition. Filing a government brief in support of a private comp...